STAR ABC's Louis Rooney took the European U22 light-flyweight title in Sofia, Bulgaria on Sunday.

The North Belfast man, in just his third international bout, was a 4-1 split winner over Azerbaijan’s Tural Sariyev in the decider to cap a superb week and maintain his rise in the sport.

Rooney was in fine form from the off, sweeping the opener with his movement and shot selection on point, taking just one scoring right in retaliation.

He maintained his flow in the second and dominated in all but one of the cards to put himself in the box seat, quelling a surge from the Azeri in the final round as he held on for the win.

Holy Trinity's Clepson Dos Santos will return with a bronze as he came up short in his flyweight semi-final against eventual champion, Rudolf Garboyan of Armenia. 

In all, it was a superb tournament for Ireland as the team claimed a record-breaking three gold, one silver and four bronze.

2022 World Champion Lisa O’Rourke won European U22 gold by way of a 5-0 victory over IBA-B’s Darya Letsko, Derry's Carleigh Irving comes home with silver after her contest with Turkey’s Nursselen Yalgattekin in the 48kg category, while 54kg Robin Kelly took bronze at 54kg.

In Sunday's men's finals, Patsy Joyce defeated Scotland’s Aaron Cullen at 54kg, while Bobbi Flood and Martin McDonagh also medaled. 

“This record-breaking result is a testament to the individual and collective commitment to training and development, and readiness to learn and adapt shown by every member of this team," said U22 Team Head Coach, Eoin Pluck.

"It’s a great honour to contest for your country, and I’d like to congratulate each boxer, their clubs, club coaches and their families on remarkable achievements in this tournament.”

National High Performance Head Coach, Zauri Antia, attended the tournament in a Coach Mentor capacity, adding: "Results here show the great depth of talent among boxers in Ireland. Every member of the team has performed exceptionally well, and each team member contributed to this high number of medals."