History in the making as O'Rourke sisters go for gold

Castlerea boxing sisters, Aoife and Lisa O'Rourke, will be looking to rewrite the history books when they go for gold at the World Boxing Championships in Serbia on Sunday evening.

Lisa, who was world champion in 2022, will be first into the ring at approximately 6.50 p.m. when she meets Russian Elena Gapeshina in the 70kg final.

The Roscommon ladies' footballer produced the performance of her life in the semi-final, losing the first round unanimously but turning things around to get the better of number 2 seed Natalya Bogdanova from Kazakhstan.

The emotion was palpable afterwards as Lisa reflected on one of the biggest wins of her career.

Since becoming world champion three years ago, her career has been stalled by a hand injury, but she has been back to her brilliant best at these championships.

Fifteen minutes later at approximately 7.05 p.m., double Olympian and reigning European champion Aoife O'Rourke will enter the ring.

Aoife will also face Russian opposition in the form of Anastasiia Shamonova.

Having cruised through her semi-final, she will face a sterner test against the boxer she beat on a split decision to retain her European 75kg crown last April.

Regardless of the outcomes, the O'Rourke sisters are guaranteed at least silver medals and are sure to receive a welcome to remember when they return to Castlerea on Monday.