Michaela Walsh had to make do with silver in the Women's Featherweight -57kg Final, following a 4-1 split decision defeat to Bulgarian Stanimira Petrova today at the European Games in Minsk.
It was a cagey battle from the off, with both boxers working hard to get the upper hand and with Petrova favouring an upright style, Walsh had to work harder to adjust. An equally close second round followed, with Walsh getting some key jabs in, but Petrova shaded the final round and secured the 4-1 split decision ruling to secure the gold medal.
Speaking afterwards, a devastated Walsh said: "I'm really heartbroken but, at the end of the day, this is all with an eye to Tokyo and I just have to accept what it is. I thought that I got it, but it is what is, and we’ll just have to move on and get back to the drawing board I guess."
Chloe and Sam Magee will take home a bronze medal from the Games after falling short in their Badminton Mixed Doubles semi-final against the Team GB's pair of Gabby and Chris Adcock.
The Irish duo secured their place on the podium yesterday with a 21-19, 21-17 defeat of the Dutch pair of Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek, the victory giving Ireland its seventh medal of the Games.
However, today's semi-final proved a bridge too far with Great Britain progressing on a score of 21-8, 21-18.
"We were a little bit too slow getting started," said Sam Magee afterwards.
"As we worked our way into the game, we got more comfortable. But they've got a lot of skills, they're very fast.
"You have to be able to match their speed and we didn't for long parts of the game. Once we did, we thought it was quite even towards the end and we just ran out of time.
"I'm glad that we kept fighting," added Chloe Magee. "We know we can do better than the first set. Today, they were better than us. But we can be proud of how we performed this week.
Reflecting on achieving Ireland's seventh medal of the games, Sam Magee said he was proud the sport of badminton had added to the haul.
"It's so nice to contribute a medal. The boxers are doing brilliantly so that badminton can also put a medal for Team Ireland.
"These things don't come around too often and we know how special it is to win bronze. Of course, we always want more but we know hard it is to win these medals."
The Magee siblings also won bronze at the first European Games in 2015.
In track cycling Robyn Stewart's Sprint campaign was ended by Italian Miriam Vece in the 1/32 Match Sprint Repechages, with Vece taking control of the race from the start, outsprinting the Belfast sprinter on the line.
Speaking after her repechage a disappointed Stewart said: "IT’s pretty disappointing, I’m pretty far off myself. I’m focusing on getting stronger for the Keirin, which I showed yesterday, so I can’t be too disappointed my Keirin has taken a hit. You learn from these experiences."
"Shannon McCurley has started the four race Omnium well, finishing fourth in the Scratch Race and eighth in the Tempo. Next up is the Elimination Race followed by the Points. Points are awarded according to ranking for each race, and the winner of the Omnium is the rider with the most points after the final points race.
