By Sean Moriarty

A talented Killarney boxer narrowly missed out on a gold medal at the European Boxing Championships in Erzurum, Turkey.

Jamesie Casey, is a Second Year student at Killarney Community College and member of the Sliabh Luachra Boxing Club in Castleisland.

After winning the national title in Dublin earlier this year Jamesie qualified for the Schoolboys and Schoolgirls European championships which were held between August 14 and 21.

In his first preliminary fight he beat Romania’s Raul Benea Antonio 5-0. He repeated this performance in the quarter finals defeating Moldova’s Chirill Slepoi by the same score-line, after which he progressed to the semi-final stages.

He defeated Azerbaijan’s Baghir Alimkhanli when the referee stopped the contest after three rounds.

In the final he faced Scotland’s Jacob Naismith in a very close fight with the judges eventually awarding the gold medal to the Scot on a 3:2 split decision.

“There was only a one-point difference on the judges’ score cards that decided the winner. It was a coin on its edge and could have went either way,” his father James told the Killarney Advertiser.

“It was a remarkable experience for Jamesie to represent Ireland and it is a fantastic achievement to win silver on an exceptionally close decision at the highest ranked competition available to his age category. His performances were exceptional throughout the entire tournament.”