Irish trio guaranteed to medal in Bulgaria

London 2012 bronze medallist Michael Conlan, Dean Walsh and Joe Ward guaranteed Ireland at least a hat-trick of bronze medals at the European Elite Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria yesterday.

But London 2012 Olympian Adam Nolan bowed out at the last-eight stage after dropping a unanimous decision to Pavel Kastramin of Belarus just 24 hours after toppling Russian No. 1 seed Radzhab Butaev in the welter class.

Ward, the 2011 European Elite champion, exacted a measure of revenge after taking all three judges with him — 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 — against Kastrimin’s compatriot Mikhail Dauhaliavets.