The action is underway in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, with five Irish athletes competing on the opening day. It has been a strong morning for Ireland in the pool, with Barry McClements, Nicole Turner and Róisín Ní Riain all swimming personal bests. Turner and Ní Riain are into their event finals at 10.46am and 11.38am respectively, while McClements is first reserve for the 400m freestyle (S9) final at 9am. Away from the pool Colin Judge fell to a 3-1 defeat to Zhao Ping in his opening table tennis match, while on the track Richael Timothy narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the individual pursuit despite clocking a personal best. You can catch up on all the overnight action from Tokyo HERE.
In his column this morning Darragh Ó Sé has looked ahead to this weekend's rescheduled All-Ireland semi-final clash between Kerry and Tyrone - a fixture originally postponed due to the Ulster champions suffering from a Covid-19 outbreak. And he agrees that pushing the match back was ultimately the right solution for everyone: "I think Tyrone did exactly the right thing. They realised that they had the GAA over a barrel. They knew - as everyone knew - that the GAA was going to find a way to play an All-Ireland semi-final." But who will win on Saturday to earn a place against Mayo in the final on September 11th? He believes the Kingdom are well placed. He writes: "But I think Kerry deserve way more credit than they're getting. They have dealt with everything that was put in front of them, they haven't really wobbled - apart from that shaky defensive performance against Dublin in the league. You can't ask much more from them than what they've produced."
Ireland forward Aiden O'Brien scored a hat-trick for Sunderland last night as they beat Blackpool 3-2 at the death to progress into the third round of the League Cup. Among the Premier League sides in action were Aston Villa who routed League Two Barrow 6-0 away from home with Anwar El Ghazi helping himself to a brace. Everton were 2-1 winners away to Huddersfield Town despite Moise Kean's red card, Watford beat Crystal Palace 1-0, Norwich thrashed Bournemouth 6-0 and Brighton won 2-0 away to Cardiff. Tonight West Bromwich Albion welcome Arsenal to The Hawthorns (8pm) while Newcastle host Burnley in an all Premier League tie (7.45pm). Elsewhere last night Benfica, Malmo and Young Boys all secured their place in Thursday's draw for the Champions League group stages. Meanwhile, Real Madrid have reportedly tabled a €160 million bid for PSG's Kylian Mbappe.
And in his column this morning Seán Moran has reflected on Limerick's All-Ireland triumph after last Sunday's win over Cork saw them lift Liam MacCarthy for a third time in four years. He writes: "It has been a groundbreaking achievement by a whole variety of metrics. Take this one: Sunday was Limerick's 10th All-Ireland. They become the fourth county to break double digits in hurling and the sixth overall - and the first not to be part of the ruling caste in either game." But what has sparked the rejuvenation and recent dominance of Limerick hurling? He asks: "What's the message here? It shows that with structures and work a county can make the best of its raw material. On the less enabling front, Limerick does have a population of nearly 200,000 and the benevolence of JP McManus but they have worked to transform the county."
