BURY ABC duo Sahir Iqbal and Brian Rennie put in battling performances to make the finals of a prestigious box cup in Sweden.

Iqbal, aged 19, returned to the ring for the first time in 18 months.

And the five-time national champion, who was ranked number two in Europe before suffering a serious back injury, saw off Laziz Sharifov, of Sweden, and England’s Kane Gardner, both on split decisions, to book his place in the gold-medal bout in the 64kg division.

Iqbal eventually lost to Norway’s Bernard Torres in the final, also on a split decision.

Rennie, aged 31, beat home favourite Cengiz Caglayan in the semi-finals of the 75kg elite competition.

He comfortably won the last-four bout on points but lost to Britain’s Jordan Reynolds, of the Hoddesdon Academy, in the final by a unanimous decision.

Trainer Mick Jelley said both fighters could take honour in their defeats.

“Brian’s opponent in the final was voted the best of all 280 fighters in the competition, so he was clearly a talented lad.

“He has worked really hard over the years to now reach a level where he can give some of the best amateur fighters in Europe a good contest, while Sahir looks to be returning to his best and was unlucky not to win.”