Haghighat-Joo overcame her opponent from the Democratic Republic of Congo by a 5-0 unanimous points decision at the Dakar Arena, with Widad Bertal of Morocco standing in her way of earning Sierra Leone a quota place after the referee stopped her contest in the third round against Nigeria's Widad Bertal.

Sierra Leone has not featured in women's boxing since its made its Olympic debut at London 2012, with Saidu Kargbo its last representative in the sport when he lost in the round-of-32 to Poland's Łukasz Maszczyk at Beijing 2008.

In the other half of the women's under-54kg draw at the qualifier, Egypt's Yomna Ayyad is set to face Algeria's Fatma Abdelkader in the semi-finals after 5-0 wins against Agerie Emagnu Bayew of Ethiopia and Chadha Jlassi of Tunisia respectively.

Abdelkader was one of four Algerian athletes through in women's boxing weight categories for which there are Paris 2024 quota places available for both finalists.

Roumaysa Boualam triumphed 5-0 over Habiba Aly at under-50kg and is set to face Nigeria's Adeola Oyesiji, Hadjila Khelif won by the same scoreline against Isabel Mulungo of Mozambique at under-60kg to set up a semi-final against Ivory Coast's Mariam Sidibé, and last year's world silver medallist Imane Khelif beat Grace Mwakamele of Tanzania to face Cameroon's Mireille Bindzi at under-66kg.

In the other half of the under-66kg draw, Alcinda Panguana of Mozambique is one win against DR Congo's Brigitte Mbabi Tsheusi away from a Paris 2024 quota place.

Zambia could be another nation with a first women's boxing representative at the Olympics next year, but after beating Tunisia's Islem Ferchichi 4-1, Felistars Nkandu faces a tough under-60kg semi-final against Nigeria's Cynthia Ogunsemilore.

The other under-50kg semi-final is set to feature world bronze medallist Yasmine Moutaqui of Morocco against DR Congo's Benedicte Diyoka.

The other category with two quota places available is the women's under-57kg, with DR Congo's Marcelat Sakobi Matshu seeking back-to-back Olympic appearances against Nigeria's Joy Ojo Nene in the semi-finals and Khouloud Hlimi of Tunisia aiming for likewise against Mariatou Diallo of Senegal.

Matshu beat Botswana's Keamogetse Kenosi 4-1, and the referee stopped Hlimi's contest against South Africa's Phiwokuhle Mnguni in the second round.

Only the gold medallist in the women's over-75kg earns a Paris 2024 quota place, and Morocco's world champion Khadija El-Mardi is into a semi-final against Patricia Mbata of Nigeria after beating Mozambique's Rady Gramane 5-0.

The other semi-final involves Kenya's Elizabeth Andiego against Tunisia's Molka Ben Mabrouk.

Only the winners earn quota places in all six of the men's events too.

Morocco's African champion Mohamed Assaghir was among the high-profile casualties of the quarter-finals, losing 4-1 against Abdelrahman Oraby of Egypt, who advanced to an under-80kg semi-final against Namibia's Gebhard Ipinge.

African Games gold medallist Yousry Hafez of Egypt lost his men's over-92kg quarter-final when the referee stopped the contest in the second round against Senegalese home favourite Diarga Balde, who is set to face Mohamed Firisse of Morocco in the semi-finals.

Two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Richarno Colin of Mauritius edged Morocco's Abdelhaq Nadir 3-2 in a notable under-63.5kg quarter-final to set up a tie against Uganda's Joshua Tukamuhebwa.

Birmingham 2022 bronze medallist Patrick Chinyemba of Zambia was another winner today with a unanimous 5-0 victory over Algeria's Mohamed Moziane.

Semi-finals are due to be held tomorrow at the African Olympic Boxing Qualifying Tournament, with finals scheduled for Friday (September 15).

The Olympic qualification procedure for boxing has been devised by the International Olympic Committee, after it stripped the International Boxing Association (IBA) of any involvement for the second Games running because of concerns related to judging and refereeing, financial stability and governance.

This led to the IBA becoming the first-ever governing body to be banished from the Olympic movement in June.