The London 2012 gold medal winner and defending continental champion paid the price for a sluggish start against the lively Petrova, and despite coming back strong in the second half of the bout, all three judges awarded the win to the Bulgarian.

"Although I was not at my best today, I felt I had done enough to go through, however, sometimes the judges just do not see it your way," said a disappointed Adams afterwards.

"It was a close bout and unfortunately it did not go for me today.

"The most important thing is to come back stronger than ever and my priority now is to make sure I am in the best possible condition for the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships later in the year."

Turkey's Nur Elif Cskun, Wassila Lkhadiri of France and Russian Saiana Sagataeva will join Petrova in the last four of the 51 kilogram division.

Irish Olympic champion Katie Taylor negotiated her quarter-final bout via a fourth round technical knockout win over home fighter Ioana Lavinia Mera, as she continues her march towards another European title at 60kg.

Standing in her way will be Bulgarian Denitsa Eliseeva, Sofya Ochigava of Russia and Frenchwoman Estelle Mossely.

Taylor's compatriot Joanne Lambe will not be joining her team mate in the semi-finals after she was comfortably beaten by Bulgaria's Svetlana Staneva in their bout at 57kg.

Staneva prevailed with a unanimous decision, as did the other quarter-final winners in the division - Zinaida Dobrynina of Russia, Italian Alessia Mesiano and Ukraine's Malovana Maryna.

Olympic champion Katie Taylor has kept her quest for another European title on track with victory in Bucharest ©Getty Images



The Irish tricolour was lowered again in the 54kg class as Russia's Elena Saveleva came through in a much closer affair against Michaela Walsh.

The other three semi-finalists secured their passage in relatively more comfortable fashion as Italy's Marzia Davide, Pole Ewelina Wicherska and Marine Rostan of France all won by unanimous decisions.

Natasha Jonas fared much better than compatriot Adams in her outing, securing a semi-final berth following a win over Valentina Alberti of Italy in the 64kg division.

The Liverpool native has guaranteed herself at least a bronze medal in Bucharest.

"It is great to have secured another major medal, however, the competition is still on-going so I am just focusing on my next bout and ensuring I go as far as possible in this tournament," she said afterwards.

Blocking Jonas' path to the gold medal will be Kinga Siwa of Poland, Russia's Martina Schmoranzova and home favourite Simona Sitar, who overcame Serbia's Lidija Marjanovic in a close contest that could have gone either way.

Fellow Romanian Steluta Duta just about squeezed past Russian Svetlana Gnevanova in another close affair to seal her spot in the last four of the 48kg division, which also produced less than comfortable wins for Sevda Asenova of Bulgaria and Turkey's Ayse Gagrir.

Marie Anne Stark of Germany looked the most impressive of the boxers at this weight, as she despatched Sweden's Elin Ronnlund via a clean sweep on the judges' scorecards.

The semi-finals at the Polyvalent Hall in Bucharest are scheduled for Friday (June 6) with the finals on Saturday (June 7).

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