NETBALL: Irish netball players are appealing for a return to the top flight of the sport after emphatically winning the recent Netball Europe Festival title in Gibraltar.
On their way to victory, Ireland took on teams from Malta, Israel, Switzerland and hosts Gibraltar. They lost their opener to Malta 32-33, but went on to dominate the tournament, finishing with an emphatic 53-17 win over Gibraltar. There was further good news for the Irish when the U-17 team that travelled to Gibraltar to play friendly matches remained unbeaten. It means that Ireland is now ranked fifth in Europe, with England top of the table.
LACROSSE: Ireland’s men finished a fighting second at the European Lacrosse Championships in Amsterdam, losing to a tough England team in the final. Earlier in the week, the Irish had opened their campaign with a group match against England, which they lost. After narrow defeat by Germany and the Netherlands, they then found their form, with a five-match winning streak bringing them to the final. The Irish now rank in the world’s top ten – not bad for a sport that only started here ten years ago.
In the women’s tournament, the Irish finished a valiant eighth.
TRIATHLON: Bryan McCrystal and Aoife Lynch were the winners at the Kinetica National Olympic Distance Championships held in Athlone, where strong currents meant the swim distance was halved to a downstream 750m, benefitting the strong cyclists and runners.
After a strong cycle, Setanta’s McCrystal held on to win the race 1 hour 43 minutes. Kinetica’s Mark Nolan finished second, two minutes behind the winner, while Paul Carroll of Olympian was two minutes behind again for third.
Aoife Lynch of the Pulse club had a tougher battle in the women’s race which she won by a minute from Pirhana’s Jennifer Duffy. Dubai-based former World Age Group champion Deirdre Casey was a close third.
Tomy Ward took the first ever Paratriathlon Championships piloted by Triathlon Ireland president Mark Riseley. With sprint and “try” events also on offer, over 2,000 turned out for the event.
DUATHLON: A change of date sees the third Runways Duathlon in the Phoenix Park taking place next Tuesday July 10 and not on Wednesday as originally scheduled.
Cathal O’Donovan from Cork who has been winning all round him so far this season, travels to Dublin for his first Dublin Duathlon. Also entered is TriSport’s Tom O’Dowd, fresh from a good win at the Mulloughmore Triathlon.
ORIENTEERING: A team of eight will represent Ireland at the World Orienteering Championships starting in Lausanne, Switzerland on July 14. Ciara Largey and Rosalind Hussey are the two women selected while Darren Burke, Nicolas Simonin, Ruairi Short, Colm Hill, Hugh Cashell and David Healy compete in the men’s competition. Hussey and Short are competing at the World Student Championships at Alicante in Spain this week.
* At the European Youth Championships in France, Jonathan Quinn of Dublin club GEN finished a magnificent 15th in the M16 sprint race. Also in action were Aoife McCavana (GEN), Róisín Long (Ajax), Niamh Corbett (Cork O), Eoin McCullough (3ROC) and Jack Millar (LVO).
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