Ireland’s Kellie Harrington is through to the final of the women’s lightweight boxing at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 31-year-old has now guaranteed herself a shot at a gold medal, with silver confirmed.

At 6am Irish time, the Dubliner overcame her Thai opponent Sudaporn Seesondee on a split decision.

In a tough and cagey opening round, Harrington was awarded the round 3-2 by the judges, before a ferocious battle in round two saw Harrington again edge it 3-2 on the scorecards.

The same case followed again for round three – and Harrington will now fight at 6am on Sunday morning for gold against powerful Brazilian fighter Beatriz Ferreira. It is a meeting of the 2018 and 2019 world champions.

The Brazilian saw off Finland’s Mira Potkonen – the 40-year-old who famously shocked Katie Taylor in Rio in 2016.

Harrington was lost for words:

“Regardless of the colour of the medal – the people back home, to put a smile on people’s face, no matter what happened in here today, I’d of told them all to keep smiling. She has a really really strong left hand, and I was trying not to get hit by them, but I felt more comfortable at the end. It’s going to be a massive fight on Sunday. It’s exciting. It will be what it will be. The last mile is never crowded – it can feel very lonely, but that’s the difference.”