# ROWING: Paul O’Donovan made up somewhat for missing out on a place in the A/B Semi-Finals of the junior single sculls at the World Rowing Championships when he won the C Final with a dominant performance in Plovdiv in Bulgaria today. The Skibbereen man, who was fourth last year in this event, was less than a tenth of a second off making the A/B semi-finals on Friday, but he left nothing to chance today and won well, placing him 13th in the overall rankings. His only test came from Leonard van Lierop of the Netherlands, who led early on and challenged again at the finish.

Niall Kenny made a serious bid for second place in the C Final of the lightweight single sculls. The race was won well by Germany’s Daniel Lawitzke, with Brazil’s Ailson Silva and Kenny fighting it out behind him. Silva clung on by .1 of a second, giving him 14th, while Kenny finished 15th overall.

In a two-boat D Final of the men’s lightweight pair, Mark O’Donovan and Anthony English could not best Chinese teenagers Zhiyuan Zhang (18) and Fengjian Qi (17). Ireland thus finish 20th in this class.

Kate O’Brien finished fifth in an interesting race in the D Final of the junior single sculls. The 17-year-old fought it out for third with Lisa Hirtenlehner of Austria for over a thousand metres, but the final quarter saw the Austrian push on – she took second in a photo finish with Chile’s Natalia Sanchez Rojas – while O’Brien was caught by Tunisia’s Racha Soula.

World Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day Four (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – D Final (Places 19, 20): 1 China 6:58.36, 2 Ireland (M O’Donovan, A English) 7:01.31.

Junior Pair – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final, rest to B Final): 1 Romania 6:43.22, 2 Germany 6:45.36, 3 Greece 6:46.74; 4 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:50.66, 5 Poland 6:57.67, 6 Belgium 7:49.61.

Lightweight Single Scull – C Final (13 to 18): 1 Germany 7:09.58, 2 Brazil 7:11.88, 3 Ireland (N Kenny) 7:11.98, 4 Hong Kong 7:13.43, 5 Peru 7:14.38, 6 Japan 7:18.57.

Junior Single Sculls – C Final (Places 13-18): 1 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:10.99, 2 Netherlands 7:15.27, 3 Austria 7:21.98, 4 Zimbabwe 7:23.33, 5 United States 7:24.26, 6 Belgium 7:37.43.

Women

Junior Quadruple – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Britain 6:42.64, 2 China 6:45.37, 3 Greece 6:47.28, 4 Australia 6:47.80, 5 Czech Republic 6:51.05, 6 Ireland (K Cromie, H Shinnick, B Jacques, B Walsh) 6:52.07.

Junior Single Sculls – D Final (Places 19 to 24): 1 Russia 8:11.28, 2 Austria 8:13.99, 3 Chile 8:13.99, 4 Tunisia 8:18.17, 5 Ireland (K O’Brien) 8:19.09, 6 Bulgaria 8:24.66.

# ROWING: The Ireland junior pair of Chris Black and Joel Cassells finished fourth in a pacey semi-final at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria this morning and will compete in tomorrow’s B Final.

The Coleraine men lived with the hot pace until the third quarter, when Germany pushed the Irish out of the third qualification spot in a race dominated by Romania. The big German crew then passed Greece, who had held second, and even threatened Romania at the finish. Romania, Germany and Greece were all inside the time of Hungary, who won the second semi-final.

The Ireland women’s junior quadruple scull of Katie Cromie, Hilary Shinnick, Bridget Jacques and Bernadette Walsh finished found themselves sixth at the end of their B Final (12th overall) after a race in which they reached as high a position as fourth at 1250 metres. Australia and the Czech Republic eventually took fourth and fifth, behind winners Britain, who led in China and Greece.

World Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day Four (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Pair – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final, rest to B Final): 1 Romania 6:43.22, 2 Germany 6:45.36, 3 Greece 6:46.74; 4 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:50.66, 5 Poland 6:57.67, 6 Belgium 7:49.61.

Women

Junior Quadruple – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Britain 6:42.64, 2 China 6:45.37, 3 Greece 6:47.28, 4 Australia 6:47.80, 5 Czech Republic 6:51.05, 6 Ireland (K Cromie, H Shinnick, B Jacques, B Walsh) 6:52.07.

# ROWING: The Ireland senior men’s crews at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria will finish their programmes competing in C and D Finals.

Lightweight single sculler Niall Kenny finished a safe second in his C/D semi-final, but the lightweight pair finished third of three in theirs and with the last crew being consigned to the D Final, this will be how they finish their regatta.

Paul O’Donovan won his C/D Semi-Final of the junior single scull. The Skibbereen man, who came within a tenth of a second of qualifying for the A/B Semi-Finals earlier in the day, was an emphatic winner from Peter Purcell Gilpin of Zimbabwe.

In the women’s junior single, Kate O’Brien finished fifth in her C/D Semi-Final. She tracked the leaders down the course in fourth for most of the race but was pushed into fifth near the end.

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Day Three (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – C/D Semi-Finals (First Two to C Final, One to D Final; Only Three Crews Competed): 1 Russia 6:54.46, 2 Japan 6:57.50; 3 Ireland (M O’Donovan, A English) 7:00.77.

Junior Pair – Repechage Four (First Two to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:53.11, 2 Czech Republic 6:53.55; 3 Spain 6:56.80, 4 Ukraine 7:19.31, 5 Denmark 7:28.63.

Lightweight Single Sculls – C/D Semi-Finals (First Three to C Final; rest to D Final): 1 Germany 7:16.86, 2 Ireland (N Kenny) 7:19.67, 3 Japan 7:20.36.

Junior Single Sculls – Quarter-Final Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Azerbaijan 7:08.77, 2 Germany 7:11.13, 3 Belarus 7:12.37; 4 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:12.46, 5 Austria 7:27.00, 6 Denmark 7:34.99. C/D Semi-Finals (First Three to C Final; rest to D Final): 1 Ireland (O’Donovan) 7:25.81, 2 Zimbabwe 7:27.99, 3 United States 7:31.97.

Women

Junior Quadruple Sculls – Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 New Zealand 6:40.77, 2 United States 6:42.25, 3 Germany 6:42.46, 4 China 6:43.28, 5 Ireland (K Cromie, H Shinnick, B Jacques, B Walsh) 6:51.54, 6 Greece 6:55.84.

Junior Single Sculls – Quarter Finals (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Romania 8:02.92, 2 Sweden 8:07.68, 3 Poland 8:09.84; 4 Russia 8:13.92, 5 Ireland (K O’Brien) 8:17.69, 6 Tunisia 8:29.53. C/D Semi-Finals (First Three to C Final; rest to D Final): 1 Czech Republic 8:18.03, 2 Brazil 8:21.39, 3 United States 8:24.31, 4 Tunisia 8:27.27, 5 Ireland (O’Brien) 8:29.11, 6 Bulgaria 8:33.57.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A/B Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 United States 7:49.85, 2 Austria 7:49.92, 3 Belarus 7:50.25; 4 Italy 7:54.51, 5 China 8:00.95, 6 Ireland (C Lambe) 8:14.64.

# ROWING: Claire Lambe’s hopes of qualifying for the A Final of the lightweight single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria fell away in the third quarter of her semi-final today. The Dubliner was competitive to halfway, although by this stage it was clear that the United States, Austria and Belarus had a strong hold on the three qualification places, though China’s Wang Miao was still pushing in fourth. Lambe had been holding off Elisabetta Sancassani of Italy in a battle for fifth, but the Italian pushed through her and later passed the Chinese as well. Lambe eventually finished sixth.

The Ireland junior women’s quadruple are also set for tomorrow’s B Final (places seven to 12). At the head of the field in their semi-final New Zealand, the United States and Germany took the A Final places, with China joining Ireland in the B Final after being pushed into fourth. The Ireland crew of Katie Cromie, Hilary Shinnick, Bridget Jacques and Bernadette Walsh won their private battle with Greece for fifth by virtue of a good finish.

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Day Three (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Pair – Repechage Four (First Two to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:53.11, 2 Czech Republic 6:53.55; 3 Spain 6:56.80, 4 Ukraine 7:19.31, 5 Denmark 7:28.63.

Junior Single Sculls – Quarter-Final Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Azerbaijan 7:08.77, 2 Germany 7:11.13, 3 Belarus 7:12.37; 4 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:12.46, 5 Austria 7:27.00, 6 Denmark 7:34.99.

Women

Junior Quadruple Sculls – Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 New Zealand 6:40.77, 2 United States 6:42.25, 3 Germany 6:42.46, 4 China 6:43.28, 5 Ireland (K Cromie, H Shinnick, B Jacques, B Walsh) 6:51.54, 6 Greece 6:55.84.

Junior Single Sculls – Quarter Finals (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Romania 8:02.92, 2 Sweden 8:07.68, 3 Poland 8:09.84; 4 Russia 8:13.92, 5 Ireland (K O’Brien) 8:17.69, 6 Tunisia 8:29.53.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A/B Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 United States 7:49.85, 2 Austria 7:49.92, 3 Belarus 7:50.25; 4 Italy 7:54.51, 5 China 8:00.95, 6 Ireland (C Lambe) 8:14.64.

# ROWING: Ireland’s two junior single scullers showed plenty of heart but could not quite make the A/B semi-finals at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv this morning.

Paul O’Donovan missed out by less than a tenth of a second in his quarter-final. The Skibbereen man lay in fifth and well off qualification at halfway. However, he mounted his customary mighty push in the second half of the race and caught up with third-placed Pilip Pavukou of Belarus. The Belarussian fought back and retained third place by .9 of a second at the finish. Azerbaijan and Germany filled the first two places. O’Donovan, who had been fourth in this discipline last year, is now set for the C/D Semi-Finals.

Kate O’Brien, making her debut at these Championships, fought bravely in her race and was in a good fourth place with 500 metres to go. But the race got away from the 17-year-old St Michael’s woman in the final quarter and she finished fifth. Romania, Sweden and Poland took the three qualification places and Russia was fourth.

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Day Three (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Pair – Repechage Four (First Two to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:53.11, 2 Czech Republic 6:53.55; 3 Spain 6:56.80, 4 Ukraine 7:19.31, 5 Denmark 7:28.63.

Junior Single Sculls – Quarter-Final Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Azerbaijan 7:08.77, 2 Germany 7:11.13, 3 Belarus 7:12.37; 4 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:12.46, 5 Austria 7:27.00, 6 Denmark 7:34.99.

Women

Junior Single Sculls – Quarter Finals (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Romania 8:02.92, 2 Sweden 8:07.68, 3 Poland 8:09.84; 4 Russia 8:13.92, 5 Ireland (K O’Brien) 8:17.69, 6 Tunisia 8:29.53.

# ROWING: Ireland won its first race at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria this morning – and in impressive fashion too. The junior pair of Chris Black and Joel Cassells are much better than their fourth place in the heats on Thursday suggested – they received their A Level Results that day – but they still had to finish in the top two in today’s repechage if they were to progress to the A/B Semi-Finals. They got a splendid start and led to  halfway. Spain, who had been the closest crew to Black and Cassells, were passed by the Czech Republic in the third quarter and Michael Humpolec and Michal Novy drew alongside the Irish in the final 300 metres and looked set for the win. However, Black and Cassells, the Ireland senior champions in the pair, finished as they had started and won the sprint to the line.

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Day Three (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Pair – Repechage Four (First Two to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C/D Semi-Final): 1 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:53.11, 2 Czech Republic 6:53.55; 3 Spain 6:56.80, 4 Ukraine 7:19.31, 5 Denmark 7:28.63.

# ROWING: The Ireland junior women’s quadruple of Katie Cromie, Hilary Shinnick, Bridget Jacques and stroke woman Bernadette Walsh showed great character to take third in their repechage and qualify for the semi-finals of the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria today.

Three places were available, and in the early stages it seemed that eventual winners Germany would be joined by Italy and Denmark. Behind them the young Ireland crew were battling with Ukraine for fourth. But by halfway the Irish, roared on by their support, were closing in on Denmark. They passed the Danes in the next 500 metres and fought off their attempts to regain third in the final quarter.

All but Cromie in the Ireland crew are 17 years of age.

World Senior and Junior Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Pair – Heat Three (Winner directly to A/B Semi-Final; rest to repechages): 1 Romania 6:46.98, 2 Germany 6:53.83, 3 Poland 6:58.00, 4 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:59.13, 5 Estonia 7:13.74.

Junior Single Scull – Heat Four (First Four to Quarter-Finals): 1 China (G Li) 7:08,24, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:13.05, 3 Zimbabwe (P Purcell Gilpin) 7:14.77, 4 Estonia (A Luenekund) 7:22.12; 5 Japan 7:27.06.

Women

Junior Quadrple – Repechage One (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C Final): 1 Germany 6:38.45, 2 Italy 6:43.88, 3 Ireland (K Cromie, H Shinnick, B Jacques, B Walsh) 6:46.34; 4 Denmark 6:47.68, 5 Ukraine 7:02.24.

Junior Single Scull – Heat Four (Four Guaranteed Quarter-Finals; fastest of rest to Quarter-Finals; rest to Final E): 1 Belarus (K Staraselets) 7:57.89, 2 Chile (N Sanchez Rojas) 8:09.53, 3 Ireland (K O’Brien) 8:13.90, 4 Ukraine (D Serebrianska) 8:16.83; 5 Uganda 10:14.48.

# ROWING: Paul O’Donovan took second in his heat of the junior single sculls to ease into the quarter-finals of the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria. China’s Ganggang Li ran away with the race. Four of the five crews qualified, but the big Chinese sprinted away from the rest and was never caught. O’Donovan came closest, but even the pugnacious Skibbereen man could not wrest the lead from Li Ganggang. Zimbabwe and Estonia took third and fourth, while Japan, in fifth, lost out.

Kate O’Brien will also compete in the quarter-finals of the junior women’s single scull. A good scull in her heat by the St Michael’s athlete saw her take third place behind Belarus and Chile and ahead of Ukraine, with all four qualifying.

World Senior and Junior Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Pair – Heat Three (Winner directly to A/B Semi-Final; rest to repechages): 1 Romania 6:46.98, 2 Germany 6:53.83, 3 Poland 6:58.00, 4 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:59.13, 5 Estonia 7:13.74.

Junior Single Scull – Heat Four: 1 China (G Li) 7:08,24, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:13.05, 3 Zimbabwe (P Purcell Gilpin) 7:14.77, 4 Estonia (A Luenekund) 7:22.12; 5 Japan 7:27.06.

Women

Junior Single Scull – Heat Four (Four Guaranteed Quarter-Finals; fastest of rest to Quarter-Finals; rest to Final E): 1 Belarus (K Staraselets) 7:57.89, 2 Chile (N Sanchez Rojas) 8:09.53, 3 Ireland (K O’Brien) 8:13.90, 4 Ukraine (D Serebrianska) 8:16.83; 5 Uganda 10:14.48.

# ROWING: Ireland’s Chris Black and Joel Cassells must negotiate a repechage to make the A/B semi-finals of the junior men’s pair at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria. The Bann crew found themselves in the fastest heat of four this morning and finished fourth. Romania set the pace and won in a quick time of six minutes 46.98 seconds despite the challenge of Germany and Ireland over the first half of the race. Poland took over from Ireland in third in the closing stages and held off a late push by Black and Cassells.  

World Senior and Junior Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Pair – Heat Three (Winner directly to A/B Semi-Final; rest to repechages): 1 Romania 6:46.98, 2 Germany 6:53.83, 3 Poland 6:58.00, 4 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:59.13, 5 Estonia 7:13.74.

# ROWING: Niall Kenny claimed third place in his heat of the lightweight single sculls to progress to the quarter-finals of the World Senior and Junior Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria today. The Galway man slotted in behind Hungary and Poland and ahead of Korea to guarantee himself meaningful action tomorrow.

The lightweight men’s pair finished fifth and last in a fascinating heat. Just one crew moved directly into the semi-finals. Germany looked like that crew until the final 500 metres, when they folded under pressure from the United States, who won, and Denmark, who took second.

Claire Lambe was in an extremely difficult heat of the lightweight single sculls. Alexandra Tsiavou of Greece was fresh from claiming bronze at the Olympic Games in the lightweight double scull – and proved fresh in competition as well, giving no encouragement to ther opposition as she grabbed hold of the one direct qualification place for the semi-finals. Lambe could not shift out of fifth and will compete in a repechage tomorrow.  

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Heat Three (Winner directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechages): 1 United States 6:49.02, 2 Denmark 6:49.61, 3 Germany 6:53.94, 4 Serbia 6:59.78, 5 Ireland (M O’Donovan, A English) 7:02.51.

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat Four (First Three and fastest losers to Quarter-Finals): 1 Hungary (P Galambos) 7:14.16, 2 Poland (B Lesniak) 7:15.33, 3 Ireland (N Kenny) 7:24.91; 4 Korea 7:31.27.

Women

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat Three: (Winner directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechages): 1 Greece (A Tsiavou) 7:49.89; 2 Belarus 7:52.99, 3 United States 7:54.22, 4 Australia 7:58.28, 5 Ireland (C Lambe) 8:06.07, 6 Kuwait 9:34.72

Junior Quadruple Scull – Heat Two (First Two to Semi-Final A/B, rest to repechage): 1 Romania 6:36.54, 2 New Zealand 6:39.41; 5 Ireland 7:00.39.