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Displaying items by tag: Billabong Rio Pro

#Surfing - Irish surfer Glenn Hall pipped reigning ASP world champion Joel Parkinson for a place in the quarter-finals of the Billabong Rio Pro this week, as Australia's SBS News reports.

Thirty-one-year-old Hall - who was born in New South Wales but has dual citizenship thanks to his Irish grandfather - did not survive much longer himself in the competition at Barra da Tijuca in Brazil, being eliminated in the fifth round by South Africa's Jordy Smith.

But the ASP world tour rookie surprised many with his third-round knockout of the current world champ, who went board-to-board with 11-time champion Kelly Slater for the title last year.

Published in Surfing

Tom Dolan, Solo Offshore Sailor

Even when County Meath solo sailor Tom Dolan had been down the numbers in the early stages of the four-stage 2,000 mile 2020 Figaro Race, Dolan and his boat were soon eating their way up through the fleet in any situation which demanded difficult tactical decisions.

His fifth overall at the finish – the highest-placed non-French sailor and winner of the Vivi Cup – had him right among the international elite in one of 2020's few major events.

The 33-year-old who has lived in Concarneau, Brittany since 2009 but grew up on a farm in rural County Meath came into the gruelling four-stage race aiming to get into the top half of the fleet and to underline his potential to Irish sailing administrators considering the selection process for the 2024 Olympic Mixed Double Offshore category which comes in for the Paris games.