Kellie Anne Harrington took a significant step toward bringing lightweight gold back to Ireland. The bracket's number-one seed advanced to the quarterfinal round following a three-round shutout of Italy's Rebecca Nicoli. 

Scores were 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Harrington, who is now one win away from advancing to at least the medal round. Harrington is expected to advance to the final round, if not win it all.

Doing so would give Ireland its second Gold medal at the weight, with Katie Taylor running the tables in 2012 London before going on to become undisputed lightweight and WBO junior welterweight champion in the pros. 

The win runs Ireland's record to 4-4 in Tokyo, with Harrington as the last remaining female fighter for her team. Harrington will now go on to face Imane Khelif (Algeria), who outpointed Mariem Homrani Ep Zayani (Tunisia) by scores of 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28. 

Caroline Dubois became the third member of the Great Britain women's team to advance to the quarterfinals, edging USA's Rashida Ellis by split decision. Dubois won 29-27 on three cards, while two judges had the bout even at 28-28. Ellis lost one point for hitting on the break in round three, though still would have lost the fight without the deduction.

Full recap of the fight can be found here: https://www.boxingscene.com/caroline-dubois-edges-rashida-ellis-advances-womens-lightweight-quarterfinals--159485 

Dubois will now face Sudapron Seesondee (Thailand), who eliminated number-four seed Simranjit Baatth (India) via three-round shutout. All five judges scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Seesondee, who improves Thailand's record to a perfect 8-0, with all four team members in the quarterfinals. 

Beatriz Ferreira is the last woman standing for Brazil, as she moves within one win of the medal round. The number-three lightweight seed advanced to the quarterfinal round following a three-round decision over Shih-Yi Wu (Chinese Taipei). 

Scores were 30-27 (x4) and 29-28 for Ferreira, who overcame a four-inch height differential by using brute strength to get the nod on 14 of the 15 combined scored rounds among the five judges. 

Ferreira will next face Raykhona Kodirova (Uzbekistan), the lone remaining female member of her team still in competition. The southpaw outboxed Naomie Yumba (Colombia) to move within one win of becoming the first Uzbek ever to win a medal in women's boxing. 

Mira Potkonen continues to make history with each appearance. The 2016 Olympic Bronze medalist from Finland bumped out number-two seed Yeonji Oh (South Korea) in the Round of 16. 

South Korea's Oh won 29-28 in the eyes of one judge, overruled by scores of 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 for Potkonen, who at age 40 is the oldest female fighter to ever compete and win in the Olympics.

The impressive run includes an opening round win over IBF junior lightweight champion Maiva Hamadouche. Potkonen is perhaps best known for upsetting Katie Taylor in the second round of the 2016 Olympics. Her goal is now is to claim Gold in her last ever amateur run. 

Next up for the ageless Potkonen is Esra Yildiz (Turkey), who eliminated Dayana Sanchez (Argentina) from competition via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28). The win puts Yildiz in the quarterfinals and keeps all three members of the Turkey women's team (now 4-0 in Tokyo) in the medal hunt.

Sanchez was the last remaining member of Argentina, who exits Tokyo at 2-5 and without any medals.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox