LEAH GALLEN advanced to the quarter-finals of the European Youth Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The Raphoe welter overcame Germany’s Annemarie Schierle in the last 16 of the 69kgs classification.
A 3-2 split decision was in favour of Gallen when the sums were totted in the Sofia Sports Hall.
A bronze medallist last year at the European Juniors in Russia, the five-times Irish champion is now bidding for another continental nugget.
Gallen is one of 339 boxers aiming for one of the 20 titles up for grabs.
Schierle was on top in the opening stanza, but Gallen came good in the final two verses to take a win that moves her into the last eight – and the Raphoe ABC star is now one win from a medal.
Before her departure for Bulgaria, Gallen said: “I wasn’t happy with the medal I got last year and I want to bring back a better medal this time.”
Gallen will fight in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
