Paddy Barnes was fortunate he was qualified for the Olympics before facing Turkish light flyweight Ferhat Pehlivan in yesterday’s semi-final in Trabzon because he was beaten in a result that will rank right up there with the big hometown decisions — although not as bad as the Joe Ward fiasco which cost him his place in London 2012.

Adam Nolan has become the fifth Irish boxer to qualify for the London Olympics after his semi-final win over Romania’s Ionut Gheorghe in Trabzon, Turkey today.

The three remaining Irish boxers in the Olympic qualification tournament in Trabzon will be back in action in today’s semi-finals.

Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Paddy Barnes is through to his second Olympic Games and vowed to come back with a medal of “a better colour”, after defeating Stefan Caslarov (Romania) 17-9 in yesterday’s quarter-finals on a memorable day at the qualifiers in Trabzon where welterweight Adam Nolan and heavyweight Tommy McCarthy also kept their hopes alive with big wins.