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| Irish men’s volleyball team |
MODERN PENTATHLON: After her brilliant 18th place at the opening World Cup of the season in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, Natalya Coyle is in Rio de Janiero for modern pentathlon’s second World Cup, with the women’s final taking place today (Sat).
At Charlotte, Coyle moved up seven places in the final combined run/shoot discipline after a flawless shooting display. That came after solid displays in the fencing, swimming and showjumping left her in 25th position.
In the men’s competition, Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe is hoping to repeat his great performance in Charlotte, where he became the first Irish male pentathlete to make a World Cup final, finishing 23th. Eanna Bailey is the third member of an Irish squad chasing Olympic qualification points before the May 31 deadline.
VOLLEYBALL: Luke Uniacke is to captain the Irish junior men’s volleyball team competing for the first time ever at next month’s European Small Nations Junior Championships in Scotland. Joining an experienced squad are Jack Davies, Padraig Fanagan and Shane Mc Carthy.
Head coach has picked a mixture of youth and experience for the five-day tournament that starts on April 3. A final training session takes place in Loughrea next weekend. This weekend the mean’s team had headed to a training camp in Frnace.
Update: Both junior and senior women’s teams won their matches against Northern Ireland at the annaul St Patrrick’s International in St Mary’s Naas yesterday.
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| Ashley St Mart |
POOL: Fred Dinsmore hopes to add to his collection of medals when he competes in the European Wheelchair Pool Championships in Luxembourg next week.
Dinsmore, world 9-ball champion in 2000 and 2005, is back in top form after winning the Barnsley 9-Ball Open last month. He travels to Luxembourg thanks to a new sponsorship deal with Anderson Tyres, and ongoing support from Ger Dunphy Entertainment, Predator, Kamui Tips, his employers Bank of Ireland 365 and his club Celbridge.
Last year, Dinsmore took bronze at the World 9 Ball Championships and also in the 8-ball competition at the European Championships. After a solid winter’s training, he hopes to do better in Luxembourg, where the 10-ball championships is first on the schedule, followed by 8-ball and then his specialist 9-ball, where he is likely to come up against defending champion Jouni Tahti from Finland.
KICKBOXING: After winning his grade at the recent Irish Kickboxing Open, Ashley St Mart has his sights set on the WKC World Championship in Canada next September. The 16-year old from the Spartan club in Dublin’s Clonsilla has underlined his promise over the past few months. At the WAKO World Kickboxing Championships held in Dublin last November, St Mart made the -57kg final where he narrowly lost to Laszlo Varga of Hungary.
St Mart has now moved up to the -63kg weight category and is the youngest member of the senior Irish squad.
ULTIMATE FRISBEE: A young Irish women’s squad of 20 has been selected for the WFDF World Junior Ultimate Championships to be hosted by DCU from August 12. Among those selected are Aoife Blake and Molly O’Toole from UCD, Ciara Corrigan of Trinty, Estelle Murchan and Francesca Towers of DCU, Lesley Fitzpatrick of IT Blanchardstown, schoolgirl Kate Boyle of Mount Sackville and a large contingent from Cork. A men’s team has already selected.
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