O'Rourke sisters win World Boxing Championship medals

Castlerea sisters Aoife and Lisa O’Rourke have both guaranteed themselves a medal at the World Championships.

The duo both came through their quarter final bouts to ensure that they will each return with at least a bronze medal.

Lisa produced a terrific display as she outboxed Saidi Lahmidi the third seed from Morocco to secure a unanimous decision win.

The opening round saw a whirlwind of action as Lisa started strong before a perfectly timed jab upstairs floored her opponent. The Castlerea boxer sought the finish but Lahmidi began to land and forced O’Rourke to take a standing eight count.

Despite this, Lisa claimed the first round on three of the judges scorecards. Thereafter she produced a controlled second round as her flurries proved too much for her opponent.

Lisa claimed the second round on all five judges scorecards and produced an assured final round to guarantee herself a medal.

Moments later, Aoife squared off against Aziza Zokirova from Uzbekistan. Despite her southpaw opponent posing some early problems, Aoife soon adjusted as she began to land her right hand while outworking her opponent in the clinch.

Aoife secured the first round on four of the judges’ scorecards. The second round saw the top seed pick up where she left off as her sharp jab led the openings.

The two time Olympian claimed the second round on all of the judges scorecards. Aoife saw out the third and final round with the minimum of fuss as four of the five judges scored the contest in her favour.

Aoife and Lisa will box in their semi finals tomorrow as they seek to upgrade their bronze to at least a silver. 

Aoife will face the fourth seed Nikolina Gajic from Serbia in the afternoon session while Lisa will come up against the second seed Natalya Bogdanova from Kazakhstan in the evening session.

Should they progress, the World Championship finals will be held on Sunday.