Abdul Burton reaches European final as Shittu and Makin take bronze

Abdul Burton reached the men's super-bantamweight final at the European Boxing Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, with a 4-1 victory over Turkey's Semih Gumus. The 20-year-old became the third British finalist, joining Chantelle Reid and Damar Thomas, according to BBC Sport's report by Ffion Wynne. His win came on a day when two other British semi-finalists finished with bronze medals.

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Burton will meet Russia's Viacheslav Rogozin in Friday's final. Speaking after the semi-final, he said he was pleased with his performance against an awkward opponent and had needed to remain disciplined. He also described enjoying the tournament and said that, although silver was now assured, his aim was to win gold at his first major event.

Reid and Thomas will also contest their finals on Friday, in the women's light-middleweight and men's super-heavyweight divisions respectively. Burton's progression leaves Britain with three opportunities to turn guaranteed silver medals into gold. BBC Sport reported that the British team sent 15 boxers to the championships and will finish with five medals, with the final breakdown still to be decided.

Dimeji Shittu was unable to join Burton in the finals after losing 4-1 to Russia's Cheerav Ashalaev in the light-heavyweight semi-final. The Commonwealth Games silver medallist nevertheless secured bronze. In his post-bout reaction, Shittu acknowledged the strength of his opponent and described the contest as competitive, while expressing satisfaction at leaving the championships with a medal despite the defeat.

Callum Makin also took bronze after a 4-1 semi-final loss, in his case against Azerbaijan's Saidjamshid Jafarov at middleweight. Burton was therefore the only winner among the three British boxers involved in those semi-finals. Shittu said he intended to learn from his loss and return, bringing his own campaign to a close while Britain's three finalists still had another bout ahead.

Ireland also had a gold-medal result to celebrate in Sofia. Lisa O'Rourke won the 80kg final against Russia's Anastasiia Demurchian, BBC Sport reported. Her title was already settled, while Burton, Reid and Thomas were still awaiting the contests that would determine the colour of their medals.