Barr Fastest in Semi-Finals; Everard Through

Thomas Barr eased his way smoothly into the final of the 400m hurdles at the World Student Games with a victory in this morning’s semi-finals.

Barr was the class of the field winning the first of three semi-finals in 49.75 secs. Second in 50.36 secs was Chieh Chen of Taipei.

In the third of three semi-finals, Algeria’s Abdelma Lahoulouran ran 49.83 secs – the only other sub-50 second time. The final takes place tomorrow at 11am Irish time. See www.gwangju2015.com

In the women’s 800m, Ciara Everard qualified for the final as a fastest loser. Her time of 2:02.10 saw her finishing fifth in the second of two semi-finals. The final takes place tomorrow (10.10 Irish time).

At the European U23 Championships in Tallin, Dempsey McGuigan’s 65.09 m effort in the men’s hammer wasn’t enough to see him make the final. In the women’s 100m, Cliodhna Manning ran 11.79 secs for third in the opening heat, while Phil Healy was fourth in the third heat with a time of 11.81 secs. Only the top two in each heat and two fastest losers progressed.