#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan put in a brilliant second 1,000 metres to secure a semi-final place in the lightweight single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. O’Donovan needed to finish in the top three of the quarter-final to progress, but he was was fifth at half way, over one-and-a-half seconds behind third-placed Steffen Jensen of Denmark, with Russia’s Alexandr Tufanyuk fighting it out with Lars Hartig of Germany at the head of the field. O’Donovan turned it on in the second half. As the Russian faded, the Irishman took over in third behind Hartig and Jensen, and then passed the Dane to take second – just over a second behind Hartig.
In a major shock, the World Under-23 champion, Andrew Campbell Jr of the United States, made his exit when he fell out of the boat in the immediately preceding heat.
World Rowing Championships, Day Four (Selected Results; Irish interest)
Men
Lightweight Single Sculls – Quarter-Final (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Germany (L Hartig) 7:13.67, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:14.76, 3 Denmark (S Jensen) 7:33.91; 4 Azerbaijan 7:25.84, 5 Russia 7:33.91, 6 Algeria 7:43.76.