Barnes robbed of shot at gold

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.

The Olympic bronze medallist threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Pehlivan but it was the Turk who got the scores. In fact it appeared all the Turk had to do was wave his hand, the crowd would cheer he would get a point.

Pehlivan won the first round 6-4 the second 9-5 for a 15-9 lead — the Algerian judge scored it 10-3.