Hockey: Trinity College, University College Dublin and the University of Ulster remain on course for a Chilean and Mauritius Cup double at the Intervarsity tournament in Jordanstown after both their men's and women's teams won through to today's semi-finals.
Michael Harte scored the goal that gave Trinity a 1-0 win over Queen's in the final Pool B match of the day, clinching their place in the last four where they will meet Dublin City University. DCU, with David Bane to the fore, topped Pool A after collecting maximum points from their games against the Royal College of Surgeons and the University of Limerick.
Mauritius Cup holders UCD finished runners-up in Pool A and face the University of Ulster in the second semi-final - goals from Simon Irvine and Andy Barbour gave them a 2-1 win over Queen's to guarantee top spot in Pool B.
In the Chilean Cup a Susie Barnett goal gave Trinity a 1-0 win over UCD but the Belfield students still topped Pool A on goal difference and now meet the University of Limerick in the semi-finals. Trinity, the defending champions, play the University of Ulster, who beat UCC 3-1 to finish top of Pool B, also on goal difference.
Chilean Cup (women) - Pool A: Trinity 1 (S Barnett), UCD 0; Queens 1 (C McKernan), Trinity 0; UCD 5 (L Hobson, C O'Brien, A Byrne, R Gibson, S Rand), RCSI 0; Queens 1 (J Carlisle), UCG 0; UCG 5, RCSI 0. Pool B: UCC 2 (E Curtin, O Curtin), DCU 0; Univ of Limerick 1 (E O'Reilly), DCU 0; Univ of Ulster 3 (D Kelly 2, C Parkhill), UCC 1 (A Carey). Today: Semi-finals: UCD v Univ of Limerick, Trinity v Univ of Ulster; final: Jordanstown, 3.0.
Mauritius Cup (men) - Pool A: DCU 5 (F Gilmour, D Bane 2, K Walsh, T Parsons), RCSI 0; UCD 4 (S Williams, G O'Meara, P Fitzroy, R McDonagh), RCSI 0; DCU 3 (D Bane, T Parsons, B Sterling), Univ of Limerick 0. Pool B: Trinity 6 (M Harte 2, G Hinds, R Cullen, J Harte, J Lush), UCC 0; Univ of Ulster 2 (S Irvine, A Barbour) Queens 1 (C Chandler); Trinity 1 (M Harte), Queens 0. Today: Semi-finals: Trinity v DCU, Univ of Ulster v UCD; final: Jordanstown, 4.30.
Cycling: Top Italian rider Marco Pantani, who was banned from finishing this year's Tour of Italy after failing a blood test, has been placed under investigation by an Italian state prosecutor, his team Mercatone Uno said yesterday.
The 29-year-old Pantani was banned from starting the penultimate stage of the Giro at Madonna di Campiglio on June 5th after a blood test showed that his red corpuscle count had breached the 50 per cent safety limit.
Pantani has strenuously denied any involvement with doping and in a later news conference raised doubts that the blood tested was really his.
Rowing: The cream of Ireland's scullers will fight it out on Saturday in the Neptune Head of the River at Blessington Lake. Albert Maher is likely to have strongest opposition from Neptune clubmate Sean Jacob in the men's singles sculls while Mary Hussey, Debbie Stack and Eilis Holohan will all be contenders in the women's singles.
Garda, fresh from an excellent second place in the Head of the Charles at Boston, will be favourites for their eighth crown with many rowers concentrating on the small-boat events.
Taekwondo: The Taekwondo Tigers are set to arrive in Dublin as part of an extensive worldwide tour to develop the sport which will be a full medal discipline at the Sydney Olympics.
The first Irish Open Championships take place at the Tallaght Arena next Sunday (3.0) with an entry of 200, including 60 home based challengers. The highlight of the event will be a demonstration by the Korean team.
The 32-county Irish Taekwondo Union is the sole body responsible for Olympic-styled taekwondo in Ireland. Worldwide there are 20 million registered members.
