by RTÉ's Niall O'Flynn in Moscow
Irish Olympic medalist Paddy Barnes is just one fight away from adding a European medal to his collection, after securing a comfortable win on the first day of the European Boxing Championships in Russia.
Belfast man Barnes, a bronze medalist in Beijing, will now fight for at least a bronze medal next Wednesday, after easily outscoring Hungarian Istvan Lakatos in the very first bout of the competition at the Ice Palace Megasport in Moscow.
The 23-year-old light flyweight, from the Holy Family club in Belfast, won on a 12-4 margin, and now goes forward to the quarter-finals, highlights of which can be seen on RTÉ television on Wednesday evening.
In all, this was a very good day at the office for the Irish, with five wins from five bouts today, on the opening day of the championships.
Dubliner Kenny Egan, a silver medallist in Beijing, began his bid for a second European medal with a win over the difficult Italian Simone Fiori. It was a tough, low-scoring contest, however, with Egan edging it by a single point, 3-2.
Beijing Olympian John Joe Joyce - one of three Irish bronze medal winners at the last European championships, in Liverpool in 2008 - also advanced, beating Vasilii Belous from Moldova 8-5.
John Joe Nevin, a former world bronze medalist, defeated Armenia's Karen Aylazyan 13-2. And Kilkenny's Darren O'Neill completed a fine day for the Irish with a hard-fought victory over Romania's Ronald Gavril, 4-2.
There will be five Irish in action tomorrow, Sunday. Dublin's Declan Geraghty, 20, and Kildare's Eric Donovan, 24, make their Moscow debuts, with bouts against fighters from Azerbijan and Denmark, respectively. Egan, O'Neill and Joyce will also return to the ring, each of them hoping to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
Nearly 300 boxers from 41 nations are taking part in the 2010 European Senior Championships.
The nine-man Irish squad has been in Moscow since Wednesday, following two training camps, sparring with boxers from Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Israel.
European Senior Championship Draw:
Saturday 5 June
(Last 16)
48Kg: Paddy Barnes (Ireland) 12-4 Istvin Lakatos (Hungary)
(Last 32)
54Kg: John Joe Nevin (Ireland) 13-2 Karen Aylazyan (Armenia)
69Kg: John Joe Joyce (Ireland) 8-5 Vasili Belous (Moldova)
75Kg: Darren O'Neill (Ireland) 4-2 Ronald Gavril (Romania)
81Kg: Ken Egan (Ireland) 3-2 Simone Fiori (Italy)
Sunday 6 June (Last 16 & 32)
51Kg: Declan Geraghty (Ireland) v Magomed Abdulhamidov (Azerbaijan)
60Kg: Eric Donovan (Ireland) v Rashid Kassem (Denmark) (last 64)
Monday 7 June (last 16)
57Kg: Tyrone McCullagh (Ireland) v Piotr Apostol (Moldova)
64Kg: Ray Moylette (Ireland) v Alex Jacobsen (Norway) or David Mueller (Germany)
