BADMINTON: Irish badminton stars Chloe Magee and Scott Evans have had their places at the London Olympic Games confirmed.
Magee, world ranked No 46, sealed her place on the team last December when she made the quarter-finals of the Irish Championships in Lisburn. For Evans, world ranked 73 and just one place off automatic selection, there was a nervous wait until his place was confirmed last week.
It will be a second appearance for both at the Olympic Games.
In an exciting time for the sport in Ireland, eight badminton nations, including Ireland, will take part in an officially-sanctioned Pre-Olympic Games training camp in Dublin next month.
A total of 14 Olympians from developing badminton nations South Africa, Peru, Finland, Uganda, Mexico,and Egypt are already confirmed. British and Korean Olympic coach Lee Jae Bok will supervise.
* World champion Niall McVeigh took gold for Ireland at the BWF European Disability Badminton Championships in Dortmund Germany. McVeigh won his world title last November in Guatemala. Taking silver was the doubles partnership of Luke Irvine and English player Krysten Coombs, while in her first international tournament, Emma Farnham won a bronze medal. Badminton is not yet a paralympic sport, but could make the 2020 programme.
HOCKEY: Stephanie Quinn of Pegasus makes a return to the Irish women’s hockey squad for the Celtic Cup at Lisnagarvey hockey club from June 29 to July 1. Quinn last played for Ireland four years ago. Of the 17-strong squad, 13 are Leinster-based, with five from Hermes and two each from Loreto, Railway Union, Old Alex and UCD. Ireland play a warm-up match against Scotland before the tournament, where Grace O’Flanagan and Zara Delaney are included in the squad. .
GYMNASTICS: Anyone passing UCD on Saturday or Sunday morning (10am-2pm) should pop into the sports hall, where the Mid Sutton Gymnastics Club present Gymfest – one of the most entertaining sporting outings of the year. Display gymnastics combines acrobatics, tumbling, dance, vault and balance in breath-taking routines. All ages are involved from tiny tots to seasoned veterans. Among the clubs taking part are City of Edinburgh Gym Club, Dynamite from Glasgow and Middlesbrough’s Riverside Display Team, along with several local teams.
TUG OF WAR: Lakehill from Co Mayo won the opening round of tug of war’s National Championships at the Clonakilty Agricultural show. In the catchweight final, Lakehill beat the legendary Boley team from Wexford. Local team Glenhill beat Lavalley to win the division 2 title, while at novice level, an all-Offaly final saw Boyneside win their first ever national title when they beat Killoughey. Hillview, another Offaly team, beat Lough Arrow from Sligo to win the U-18 425kg 6-a-side championship. Next round in Dundalk on June 24 includes the 600kg championships.
RUGBY LEAGUE: Six home-grown players are included in the Irish rugby league squad that plays the England Knights at Langtree Park (St Helen’s) today (Sat).
Wayne Kerr, Joe Taylor, Paddy Barcoe Ian Cross, Aaron McCloskey and Adam Hughes all make the 19-strong squad for the first time. Taylor, Barcoe and Hughes all play their league rugby with Dublin City Exiles.
A further six uncapped players have made the squad including Widnes Viking Kurt Haggerty and Leeds Rhinos Academy’s Sean Casey who follows a family tradition. Both father Leo Casey and brother Callum have played for Ireland.
Liam Finn captains the side for the fourth time.
TRIATHLON: In 1983, a local teacher called Maurice Mullins organised Ireland’s first ever triathlon on Skerries. Skerries has played host to many triathlons since then and tomorrow (Sun) Fingal Tri Club’s Skerries Sprint and Olympic Triathlon take place with Maurice’s niece Sheila among the organisers.
Belpark’s Stephen Earley won aquathons in both Howth and the Bull Wall this week.
In Howth, Earley and his clubmate Kevin Thornton finished the 1km swim together, but Earley then pulled away on the 5.5km run. The same pair finished first and second two days later at Bull Island. First women at Howth was Vanessa Fenton with Jennifer O’Connell the winner at the Bull Wall.
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