# CANOEING: Ireland took a creditable ninth place at the Olympic Games today when Andrzej Jezierski dominated the B Final of the C1 200 metres in the Canoe Sprint competition at Eton Dorney.

Jezierski, who had a poor start in his semi-final and missed out a place in the A Final, nailed it this time and led as he came into the closing stages. Vadim Menkov of Uzbekhistan came closest to catching the Cork-based competitor, but Jezierski won by .127 of a second.

Olympic Games – Canoe Sprint, Eton Dorney – C1 200m, B Final (places 9 to 16): 1 Ireland (A Jezierski) 44.041 seconds, 2 Uzbekhistan 44.168, 3 Hungary 44.466.  

# CANOEING: A poor start cost Andrzej Jezierski dearly it the Olympic Canoe Sprint semi-finals this morning. A very tough draw in the C1 200 metres saw the Ireland competitor needing to finish in the first two of a top-class field to be sure of a final place, though the two fastest third-place losers of the three semis would also qualify. However, Jezierski struggled from the start and even his customary better second half could only secure fourth. It was the fastest of the three semi-finals. Jezierski  is now set for the B Final.

The top two places in the semi-final were taken by Ivan Shtyl of Russia and Alfonso Benavidez Lopes de Ayala of Spain.

Olympic Games

Canoe Sprint – Eton Dorney – C1 200m – Semi-Final (First Two to Semi-Finals): 1 Russia (I Shtyl) 40.346, 2 Spain (A Benavidez Lopes de Ayala) 40.619; 4 Ireland (A Jezierski) 42.012.

# CANOEING: Ireland had a terrific start in the Olympic Canoe Sprint events at Eton Dorney this morning. Andrzej Jezierski was not happy with his start in the C1 200 metres but covered the second 100 metres very well to to finish second and qualify comfortably for the semi-finals.

Mathieu Goubel of France won the heat, but the big surprise was that Valentin Demyanenko, the reigning world champion, did not qualify. The man who represents Azerbaijan finished seventh and last.

Olympic Games

Canoe Sprint – Eton Dorney – C1 200m – Heat One (Six to Semi-Finals): 1 France (M Goubel) 41.248, 2 Ireland (A Jezierski) +0.156, 3 Japan (N Sakamoto) +0.280, 4 Canada (J McCoombs) 0.494, 5 Brazil (R Oliveira) +0.968, 6 Australia (S Marczak) +1.597; 7 Azerbaijan (V Demyanenko) +2.946.

# CANOEING: Andrzej Jezierski finished fifth in the A Final of the C1 200 class at the Canoe Sprint European Championships in Zagreb in Croatia today. The Poznan native, who lives in Co Cork, has reportedly been suffering from a shoulder niggle, but this placing continues an improving run since he qualified for London 2012 in May. He finished 14th in the World Cup in Poznan and seventh in the World Cup in Duisburg. “We are very pleased with today’s result,” said Karl Dunne of the Irish Canoe Union. “It’s good progress.”

# CANOEING: Ireland’s hopes in Canoe Sprint at the Olympic Games received a boost today when Andrzej Jezierski qualified for the A Final at the Canoe Sprint European Championships in Zagreb. The Cork-based athlete, who will represent Ireland in the C1 200 class in London 2012, finished second in his semi-final today in that class, having placed third in his heat.

Canoe Sprint European Championships, Zagreb – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

C1 200

Heat One (First to final; 2-7 to Semi-Final): 3 A Jezierski 40.571. Semi-Final (First Three to A Final): 1 Belarus (D Harazha) 39.770, 2 Jezierski 40.198, 3 Slovakia (L Hagara) 40.514.

# CANOEING: Ireland had a fifth and a seventh place in A Finals at the Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg this morning. Newly-qualified Olympian Andrzej Jezierski did not have a great start in the C1 200 metre race won by Spain’s Alfonso Benavides of Spain. Jezierski finished seventh. Barry Watkins battled well in the K1 500 metres and finished fifth in a race won convincingly by Anders Gustafsson of Sweden.

Canoe Sprint World Cup Two, Duisburg (Irish Interest)

Men

K2 200 – C Final (Places 19-27): 5 V Pierce, S Marchetti 34.156; 6 M Majchrzak, P Egan 34.201

C1 200m – A Final: 1 Spain (A Benavides) 40.685, 2 Germany (S Kiraj) 40.760, 3 Brazil (N Santos) 41.203; 7 Ireland (A Jezierski) 41.558

K1 500m – A Final: 1 Sweden (A Gustafsson) 1:41.063, 2 Germany (T Liebscher) 1:41.431, 3 Tunisia (MA Mrabet) 1:42.413; 4 Canada (B Reardon) 1:42.679, 5 Ireland (B Watkins) 1:43.526.

# CANOEING: Andrzej Jezierski won his semi-final of the C1 200 metres and moved confidently into tomorrow’s A Final at the World Cup in Duisburg in Germany. He finished second in his heat of the men’s C1 200 metres to qualify for the semi-final. Jezierski, who lives in Ballincollig in Cork, earlier this month qualified this boat for the Olympics for Ireland.

Barry Watkins finished third in the B Final of the men’s K1 1,000 metres, 12th overall, while the two men’s K2 200 metres boats both made it through to their semi-finals.

Canoe Sprint World Cup Two, Duisburg (Irish Interest)

Men

C1 200m – Heat Three: 2 A Jezierski 41.091 seconds. Semi-Final One: 1 Jezierski 41.931.

K1 1,000m – B Final: 3 B Watkins 3:35.782

K2 200 – Heat One: 6 S Marchetti, V Pierce 34.179. Heat Four: 7 M Majchrzak, P Egan 34.447.

CANOEING: New Ireland star Andrzej Jezierski qualified for the B Final at the canoe sprint World Cup in Poznan in Poland. Jezierski finished fourth in his semi-final, just over three tenths of a second off the second place which would have put him in the A Final. Jezierski booked his place for the Olympic Games at the same venue in the Olympic Qualifier on Thursday.

Canoe Sprint World Cup, Poznan, Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

C1 200 – Heat Three (1-7 and next best time to Semi-Final) 7 A Jezierski 48.652. Semi-Final (1-2 and next best time to A Final; 3-4 to B Final): 4 Jezierski 42.663.

K1 1,000m – B Final: 4 B Watkins 3:53.405

K2 200 – Heat Two (1-6 and next 3 best times to Semi-Final): 8 P Egan, M Majchrzak) 37.239. Heat Four: 7 S Marchetti, V Peirce 35.798

Women

K1 500m – C Final: 7 J Egan 2:10.730.

# CANOEING; Ireland booked a place for a third canoeist at the Olympic Games as Andrzej Jezierski fought through difficult conditions to take second place in the Olympic Qualifier in Poznan in Poland today. The Polish man who lives and works in Cork came in just over half a second behind Hagara Lubomir of Slovakia.

 Jenny Egan failed to make the final in the K1 200 metres, but there are still hopes that she will make it through in the K1 500m in which she finished seventh earlier in the day.

European Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifier – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men – C1 200m – A Final (First Two Qualify): 1 Slovakia (L Hagara) 42.518, 2 Ireland (A Jezierski) 43.034; 3 Czech Republic (M Fuksa) 43.522, 4 Germany (S Kiraj) 43.746, 5 Romania 44.186, 6 Latvia 45.202, 7 France 45.366, 6 Georgia 45.594, 9 Hungary disqualified.

Women, K1 500m – A Final: 1 Russia (Y Kachalova) 2:00.037, 2 Norway (MV Larsen) 2:01.281, 3 Poland (K Naja) 2:01.769, 4 Austria (AR Lehaci) 2:02.801, 5 Romania (R Borha) 2:03.317, 6 Spain (A Portela) 2:03.701, 7 Ireland (J Egan) 2:04.061, 8 Sweden (A Roger) 2:05.377, 9 Netherlands (E Haaze) 2:06.489.

K1 200 – Semi-Final: 1 Italy 45.253; 6 Egan 48.641.

#CANOEING: Two Ireland boats have qualified for tomorrow’s finals at the European Olympic Qualifier for canoe sprint in Poznan in Poland. Andrzej Jezierski won his heat of the C1 200, while Jenny Egan came through a semi-final to make the final of the K1 500 metres. She also has a chance of making the K1 200 metres final, as she has qualified for the semi-final.

Jezierski is a former world champion with his native Poland who now lives and works in Co Cork. He has been training at the National Rowing Centre at Farran Wood and recently declared for Ireland.

European Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifier, Poznan, Poland (Irish interest)

Men

C1 200 – Heat One (First Three to Final): 1 Ireland (A Jezierski) 43.451, 2 France (T Simart) 43.739, 3 Romania (J Chirila) 44.739.

K1 200m – Heat One (First to A Final; 2-7 to semi-finals): 8 Ireland (S Marchetti) 43.825.

K1 1,000m – Heat Three (1st to Final; rest to Semi-Final): 5 N Fleming 3:48.069. Semi-Final (1-3 to A Final): 5 Fleming 3:45.819

K2 200m – Heat One (1-3 to Final; 4-7 plus one best time to Semi-Final): 8 S Marchetti/V Peirce 36:549. Semi-Final (1-3 to Final): 8 Marchetti/Peirce 35.645.

Women

K1 500 – Heat Two (1-3 to Final; 4-7 plus one best time to Semi-Final): 5 J Egan 2:02.124. Semi-Final (1-3 to A Final): 1 Norway (MV Larsen) 2:01.083, 2 Spain (M A Portela) 2:01.363, 3 Egan 2:02.215

K1 200 – Heat Two (1-3 to Final; 4-7 plus next best time to Semi-Final): 5 Egan 46.264.