Irish Olympic success continues as Barnes secures bronze and makes history
Paddy Barnes has become the first Irish boxer to win medals at consecutive Olympic games.
The Belfast fighter has beaten Devandro Singh Laishram of India by 23 points to 18 after a masterful performance in their Light Flyweight quarter-final at the Excel Arena.
With both fighters throwing plenty of punches, Barnes led by 7 points to 5 at the end of the first round after he proved more accurate with his cominbations.
The second round featured a brief stoppage after the referee penalised Laishram for a headbutt and Barnes increased his lead to seven points.
The final round saw Barnes drop his intensity, which allowed the Indian to win the last round, but the Ulsterman managed to hold-out for an emphatic victory.
The 25-year-old will now face China's Shiming Zou in Friday's semi-final.
Earlier, Katie Taylor advanced to the final of the Women's Lightweight division while Cian O'Connor won bronze in the Showjumping.
Taylor won every round on her way to a 17 points to 9 victory in her semi-final, which sets-up a final showdown against Russia's Sofya Ochigava tomorrow evening at 4.45pm.
O'Connor claimed a bronze medal in the Individual Showjumping after he agonisingly lost the jump-off for second or third place.
The Kildare native jumped two clear rounds during today's final but he incurred a single time penalty during his second round, which denied him a shot at the gold medal.
Instead, the 32-year-old finished in a tie with Gerco Schroder of the Netherlands and the Dutch rider won a tense jump-off after O'Connor knocked his final fence.
