While 36 quota places were allocated during Wednesday's (June 28) quarter-finals, four of the 13 Olympic weight categories only offered two berths for the finalists.

Three-time World Championships medallist Billal Bennama of France was first to clinch a place for his country, beating Britain's Kiaran MacDonald through a unanimous points decision in the men's under-51 kilograms at the Nowy Targ Arena.

He is set to be joined in the final in the lowest men's weight division by Samet Gümüş, who clinched a quota place for Turkey through a 4-1 split decision victory over Federico Serra of Italy.

Jack Marley impressed for Ireland to secure a qualifying spot with a 4-1 win against European Championships silver medallist Enmanuel Reyes of Spain, and Italy's two-time world silver medallist and European champion Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine proved too strong for Poland's Mateusz Bereźnicki in the men's under-92kg.

Ireland's second quota place of the day and fifth overall at Kraków-Małopolska 2023 came from a scrappy contest in which two-time European champion Aoife O'Rourke required all of her experience to prevail 3-2 on a split decision in the women's under-75kg semi-final against Polish home favourite Elżbieta Wójcik who had taken the first round.

Davina Michel of France had a more routine victory in the other semi-final against Germany's Irina Schönberger.

In the other weight category with Olympic quota places riding on the semi-finals, Mahammad Abdullayev of Azerbaijan beat Germany's Nelvie Tiafack 4-1 on a split decision in the men's over-92kg, and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Delicious Orie of Britain was a unanimous winner against Yordan Hernández of Bulgaria.

Orie insisted "this is a day I will never ever forget".

"It's a dream of mine and now we're there," an emotional Orie said afterwards.

"Every single day I wake up in the morning before I go out on my runs and think to myself I'm going to be an Olympian, and today is the day."

For those who did not secure Paris 2024 places in Poland, two further opportunities are expected in the form of World Qualification Tournaments.

The qualifying process was taken over by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year because of the suspension of the now-banished International Boxing Association (IBA) due to governance concerns.

The IBA had threatened its judges and officials who participated at IOC-run events with sanctions and in recent months had published a widely-dismissed qualifying system of its own for Paris 2024 and list of eligible boxers for Kraków-Małopolska 2023.

It backed down last month and allowed National Federations to "freely participate" as a "goodwill gesture" to the IOC.

European Games medals are also at stake in boxing, and Ireland's lightweight Olympic champion Kellie Harrington was among those who progressed to the final as she unanimously won a high-profile women's under-60kg tie against France's Rio 2016 gold medallist Estelle Mossely, who has 11 victories as a professional.

Serbia's Natalia Shadrina is due to be her opponent after beating Turkey's Gizem Özer 4-1.

Bulgaria's Stanimira Petrova was the first winner of the day with a dominant display against Britain's Charley Davison, advancing to a women's under-54kg final against Lăcrămioara Perijoc after the Romanian won a tight contest with Turkey's Hatice Akbaş 3-2.

Women's under-69kg Olympic champion Busenaz Sürmeneli of Turkey reached the final with an impressive 4-1 victory against Britain's Rosie Eccles, with Oshin Derieuw of Belgium into the gold medal match thanks to a unanimous win against Hungary's Luca Anna Hámori.

Turkish Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Buse Naz Çakıroğlu unanimously beat Giordana Sorrentino of Italy to reach the women's under-50kg final against France's Wassila Lkhadiri, and Amina Zidani of France and Bulgaria's Svetlana Staneva were winners in the other women's weight category at under-57kg.

Three-time world champion Sofiane Oumiha of France was among the winners in the men's semi-finals, triumphing 5-0 over Ireland's Dean Clancy at under-63.5kg to seal a gold medal match against Georgia's Lasha Guruli.

Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine progressed to the under-80kg final with a unanimous win against Salvatore Cavallaro of Italy, with Croatia's Gabrijel Veočić beating Azerbaijan's Murad Allahverdiyev via the same route in the other semi-final.

Bulgaria's Javier Ibáñez sealed a place in the under-57kg final on a 4-1 split decision victory against Nebil Ibrahim of Sweden, with Spain's José Quiles triumphing in the second semi-final unanimously against European champion Vasile Usturoi of Belgium.

Nikolai Terteryan of Denmark received a walkover to the under-71kg final after Turkey's Tuğrulhan Erdemir withdrew, and is set to face European champion Vahid Abasov of Serbia who dominated against France's Makan-Vie Traore.

Boxing finals are due to be held across tomorrow and Sunday (July 2) at Kraków-Małopolska 2023.