Cookstown, Wesley, Ashton and Kilkenny emerged as group winners in the Irish schoolboys hockey championship in Cork to qualify for today's semi-finals.
Both Ashton, the defending champions, and Kilkenny topped their respective Groups C and D with maximum points. The other two pools were decided on goal difference with Cookstown just tipping RBAI in Group A and Wesley heading Group B from Newry.
Cricket: Brigade, the holders, have been drawn away in the second round to Cliftonville in next season's Royal Liver Cup, on Saturday May 20th.
Merrion, the only southern club to reach the semi-finals last summer, when they lost to Brigade at home at Anglesea Road, have been drawn away to Glendermott in Derry. Four Leinster clubs - YMCA, The Hills, Phoenix and Malahide - will have home second-round matches, while the Conqueror Cup holders, Pembroke, are away to Cork County.
The draw for the preliminary and second rounds was announced yesterday and the third and fourth rounds will be played on Saturday June 10th (reserve date Friday June 23rd) and Saturday July 1st (reserve date Friday July 14th), respectively.
The semi-finals will be played on Saturday July 29th and the final on Friday September 1st.
Athletics: Italian long jumper Fiona May announced yesterday that she will continue her athletics career, and won't be quitting after a bitter disappointment at the world championships.
May put her future on hold after being beaten to the gold medal in Seville by Spain's Niurka Montalvo, whose final winning leap was shrouded in controversy after claims that it was a no-jump.
Photographs suggested that the Spaniard's foot was right on the very limit, but May insisted she was unfairly denied the title and would almost certainly quit the sport as a result.
Looking back to the events of last August, she said: "It's all behind me now, I'm relaxed about it. Now I'm just looking to do well, with the Sydney Olympics coming up."
Tennis: Steffi Graf said yesterday she was surprised at the hysteria whipped up by the media regarding her friendship with world number one Andre Agassi.
"I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams that it would lead to such hysteria," Graf told Stern magazine.
"Andre and I have nothing to hide - there are plenty of photos of us and yet we just don't get a break," she complained, adding she was tired of having to evade the paparazzi.
On Tuesday the pair appeared for the first time together in public in Germany when they had a brief practice session on centre court at the ATP event in Stuttgart which led to a stampede by hundreds of fans to see them.
