Michael O’Reilly now just one step from Olympic goal

Michael O’Reilly is one win away from securing his Olympic place in Baku, while Dean Gardiner also kept his Rio dream alive with a surprise victory yesterday.

Portlaoise native O’Reilly marched into the quarter-finals of the final amateur Olympic qualifier last night, claiming a 3-0 unanimous decision over Mongolian Shinebayar Narmandakh.

The world middleweight will book his ticket for Rio with a semi-final place but he first faces a tricky test in the last eight tomorrow against ‘home’ opposition.