BADMINTON: Chloe Magee and Scott Evans were back training in Dublin this week after mixed fortunes at the Russia White Nights Pre-Olympic Badminton tournament in Gatchina, Russia.
Magee reached the finals of the women’s singles, where she faced Polish No 1 Kamila Augustyn. Although Magee won the first set 21-19, the experience of the Polish player began to tell when Magee struggled with her length in the second set and she gradually moved ahead to win the second set and then wrap up the atch in the third.
Scott Evans’ campaign ended when he lost in straight sets to Ville Lang of Finland in the men’s singles quarter-final. In the men’s doubles he teamed up with Sam Magee and went out in the last 16 to Andrej Ashmarin and Nikita Khakimov of Russia.
Competing in the mixed doubles, Chloe and Sam Magee went out in the quarter-finals, losing to the Russian pairing of Andrej Ashmarin and Anastasia Panushkina.
Magee will stay in Dublin to complete her preparations for London 2012, while Evans travels to Paris for more match practise.
CANOEING: Leixlip lake is the venue for this weekend’s National Marathon Canoeing Championships hosted by the Salmon Leap Canoe Club. Among those in action will be Jenny Egan, the defending women’s K1 champion, who lost out on qualifying for the sprint events at the London Olympics by just one place. Also competing is Neil Fleming of Celbridge, runner-up at the recent World Cup in Denmark. K1 races at distances from 2km (under 12) to 16km (seniors) (12 noon) take place on Saturday, with K2 races on Sunday (12 noon).
DUATHLON: The long journey from Cork proved worthwhile for Cathal O’Donovan (Cork Tri) when he won the Runways Dublin Duathlon in the Phoenix Park on Tuesday evening. O’Donovan also took the run and bike primes, finishing ahead of Micheal McGloin (Piranha Tri) and Barry Hughes (Drogheda Triathlon).
In the women’s race, Marie Triona-Keane (T3) took the lead from the gun and finished two minutes clear of Vanessa Fenton (3D Tri) and her T3 clubmate Jennifer O’Connell.
IRONMAN TRIATHLON: Over 2,000 triathletes, including 70 Irish, lined out for last weekend’s Ironman Frankfurt in Germany – a gruelling 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and a 42km marathon run.
Mariusz Olejniczak of Naas Triathlon Club, a strong swimmer, was the first Irish man to finish in a time of 9 hours 15 minutes 18 seconds, with Marc O Raifeartaigh and John Woods also home in under ten hours. Clodagh Myers from 3dtri was first Irish woman in 11:15:15, followed just over an hour later by Deirdre Lynn. Race winner was Marino Vanhoenacker from Belgium in 8:03:31, with Swiss triathlete Caroline Steffen the first woman in 8:52:33.
At the Challenge Roth in Germany, also consisting of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle
bike ride and 42km run, the veteran Matt Molloy was 33rd overall and first Irishman in 9 hours 3 minutes 21 seconds. Just over 15 minutes behind was many times former Irish triathlon champion Brian Campbell, while first Irishwoman was Andrea Lowry in 11:11:34.
The men’s race was won by South African James Cunnama in 7:59:59, while England’s Rachel Joyce won the women’s with a winning time of 8:45:04.
WATER POLO: Olympic water polo champions Hungary suffered two defeats in four days of play at the pre-Olympic Dublin Cup in the National Aquatic Centre, Blanchardstown.
Hungary had beaten Romania and Great Britain in their first two matches, but then narrowly lost 9-10 to world silver medal winners Montenegro, before going down 8-11 to Croatia in the final match of the tournament. Croatia, world championships bronze medal winners, remained undefeated with good wins over Montenegro, Romania, Hungary and Great Britain. Clearly a team to watch out for at London 2012.
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