Boxing
Katie Taylor will look to take another step towards history today when she takes on France’s Estelle Mossely in the semi-finals of the World Championships in Astana this afternoon. If Taylor can beat Mossely and then go on to win the final she will take home a historic sixth world title.
Meanwhile, light-welterweight Kellie Harrington will look to become the first woman on the Irish team to reach a final when she goes into the ring with Sara Kali this morning.
From Astana, Johnny Watterson writes about the two Irish boxers on the brink of glory.
Soccer
Tomorrow evening Ireland take on the Netherlands in the first of a friendly double-header before Euro 2016. Martin O'Neill spoke yesterday of how his squad is 90 per cent finalised. The manager says that, by the time his side take on Belarus on Tuesday, most of the players will know their fate.
Meanwhile, the French city of Lille has topped the table for hotel room price hikes ahead of the finals. Ireland fans looking to find accommodation in the city for the clash against Italy on June 22nd face a 427 per cent increase on the average price.
As the build-up to the tournament continues, RTÉ's Apres Match have said that they have a whole new cast of characters – including Kevin Kilbane, Gerry Armstrong and James Nesbitt – ready to impersonate.
Continuing with soccer and the Jose Mourinho to Manchester United saga rumbles on. The Portuguese manager is expected to sign a contract with the 20-times champions by tomorrow but that process is currently being held up by the issue of the rights to his name and image which are currently owned by Chelsea.
Rugby
Gerry Thornley writes about how Munster flanker Tommy O'Donnell is the major surprise omission from the 32-man Ireland squad announced yesterday for next month's tour of South Africa.
“This is the latest blow to O’Donnell, who has had a somewhat stop-start Test career since winning the first of his dozen caps on the summer tour to the Americas in 2013. After appearing off the bench in the wins over Scotland and Wales in the ensuing Six Nations, he was dropped from the match-day squad for the remaining three games when replaced by Jordi Murphy.”
Ahead of the Pro12 final this Saturday between Connacht and Leinster, the western side's lock Andrew Browne has spoken about how beneficial the mix of nationalities at Connacht has been this season.
Women in sport
Sonia O'Sullivan says in her column today that we should celebrate our marathon runners, instead of focusing on the controversy brought up by the Olympic team selection.
“Having more than the three permitted athletes qualified should have been something to celebrate, but instead it created an air of negativity: I’m certainly not going to add to that, except to say that some of the reaction hasn’t been very fair, on both the athlete that was selected and the one that wasn’t,” she says.
Meanwhile, Brian O'Connor meets some of the young women trying to make the breakthrough in the horse racing world.
And in the Q&A section, Wexford Youths captain Kylie Murphy speaks to Mary Hannigan about leading her side to victory over Shelbourne last week to retain the Women's National League title.
Golf
The BMW PGA Championship gets underway at Wentworth today. In his column Shane Lowry has been speaking of the continuing Zika controversy surrounding golf in the Olympics.
Despite that fact that stars such as Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose aren't present at Wentworth this year, the event still holds a special place in the calendar as we tick closer to the second major of the year.
GAA
In his weekly statistics column Eamon Donoghue looks at how Cavan's possession game could cost them dearly.
“Against Tyrone Cavan handpassed 159 times – it was no surprise then that it took 13 minutes for Givney to touch the ball. He would only touch it seven times over the 70 plus minutes. Nonetheless he managed three assists, scored a point and was inches off with another effort.”
Meanwhile Ciaran Murphy looks at how the GAA could take a leaf out of Connacht's book as the rugby team's attendances continue to grow week on week.
What to watch out for
Golf: The BMW PGA Championship gets underway at Wentworth. Sky Sports 4 from 10am.
On the senior tour the PGA Championships begins (Sky Sports 4, 6pm), while Jordan Spieth is in the field at the Colonial National Invitational on the PGA Tour (Sky Sports 4, 9pm).
Boxing: Kellie Harrington takes on Sara Kali in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Championship (RTE 1 at 10.45am).
Later in the afternoon Katie Taylor takes to the ring for her semi-final. RTE 1 from 2.30pm).
