GB's Reid and Thomas advance to European Championships finals

Great Britain’s Chantelle Reid and Damar Thomas reached the finals of the European Boxing Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria on Wednesday after winning their semi-final bouts.

Reid beat Serbia’s Milena Matovic 3-2 in the light-middleweight semi-final and Thomas defeated Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev 5-0 in the men’s super-heavyweight competition, while team-mates Callum Makin and Dimeji Shittu secured at least bronze with quarter-final wins.

Reid, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist, trailed after the first round against Matovic but took the second unanimously and did enough in the third to clinch victory at Asics Arena Sports Hall. "It was a really good bout. She's a really good girl and I hope we get to share the ring again one day," said Reid. "On to the next. Each bout's gone better, each opponent's gotten better and I'll be boxing the best out of the weight category in two days' time." She will face Busenaz Surmeneli in Friday's final after the Turkish boxer beat Russia's Nadezhda Golubeva 3-2.

Thomas, the 21-year-old Commonwealth gold medallist, completed his semi-final with a 5-0 verdict and is set to meet Russia's David Surov in Friday's final; Surov also advanced with a 5-0 win over Austria's Ahmed Hagag.

Dimeji Shittu, who took silver at the Commonwealth Games in August following a controversial defeat by India's Ankush Panghal, guaranteed himself a European medal by beating Austria's Lucky Aimufua 5-0 and will meet Russia's Cheerav Ashalaev on Thursday for a place in the final. "My first performance wasn't the best, but that's what I'm like, I go back to the drawing board and showed what I'm really capable of," Shittu said. "Credit to my opponent. He was game, he was strong, but ultimately skills paid the bills, booked me a place in the semi-finals and a guaranteed medal. "Last time I brawled, now I want to show that I can box. And the end of the day it's hit or not get hit. So I went out there, put on a show. Got the medal, let's go change that colour."

Callum Makin, a bronze medallist at last year's World Boxing Championships, edged Armenia's Marat Mikaelyan 3-2 and will face Azerbaijan's Saidjamshid Jafarov in a Thursday semi-final. Meanwhile, Lauren Mackie lost 5-0 to Lenka Bernadova in the women's bantamweight quarter-final and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Amy Broadhurst was beaten 4-1 by France's Sthelyne Grosy in the women's lightweight quarter-final.

Abdul Burton remains in the men's super-bantamweight draw and will meet Turkey's Semih Gumus in the semi-finals on Thursday. Burton and Shittu are scheduled to compete in the session starting at 11:30 BST, while Makin's semi-final against Jafarov is among the fights scheduled from 16:00. The finals for Reid and Thomas are set for Friday.