Road To Rio: North-East boxers Josh Kelly and Pat McCormack on the brink of Olympic qualification

Kelly, who is from Sunderland, is hoping to compete in the welterweight division in Rio, and booked his place in the last eight with a convincing win over Estonia’s Kaupo Arro.

The Houghton ABC 22-year-old gained a 30-27 victory on the judges’ scorecards, and now faces Aaron Prince, from Trinidad & Tobago, tomorrow, with the winner guaranteed a place in Rio.

McCormack, who is from Birtley ABC, is also one victory away from the Olympics, having beaten Georgian Lasha Guruli at light-welterweight yesterday.

McCormack produced a dominant performance as he also won 30-27, and will now face either France’s Hassan Amzile or Kyrgyzstan’s Ermek Sakenov for an Olympic spot.

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DURHAM rower Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell faces a nervous wait to see if he has done enough to secure an Olympic place in the men’s pair.

The pair was one of the boats that was not finalised during the initial selection round, with last weekend’s World Cup in Poznan viewed as a potential shoot-out between Reilly-O-Donnell and Mat Tarrant and the rival British crew of Alan Sinclair and Stewart Innes.

Things could hardly have been closer, with Sinclair and Innes pipping Reilly-O’Donnell and Tarrant by less than half-a-second to claim third place in an extremely hard-fought final.

“The result was not what we wanted,” admitted Reilly-O’Donnell. “I’d like to say that it has been good working with Mat. No one sees how hard we have been working behind the scenes. (The World Cup race) felt like a bridge too far. It’s been a long racing season – now we wait to see what the chief decides.”

Durham’s Jess Eddie and Richmond’s Zoe Lee won a silver medal as part of the women’s eight, with the British boat finishing second behind New Zealand.

Chester-le-Street’s Will Fletcher teamed up with his Olympic partner, Richard Chambers, to finish fifth in the final of the lightweight men’s double scull.