Student Games: Paul Brizzel's 200 metres Irish under-23 record of 20:93 seconds was wiped away by Mark Howard in his second round heat in Beijing yesterday. The "Swords flyer" clocked a time of 20:88, qualifying comfortably in third place for the tomorrow's semi-final. He even eased up in the final few metres when he was certain to be among the four qualifiers.
"Obviously I'm pleased with the record. I've snipped 11 hundredths of a second off my PB so I'm hitting form at the right time. Now I have to concentrate on the semi-finals," he said afterwards. He will now have his sight on Brizzel's senior record of 20:54.
Paul McKee also ran in the second round but missed out on qualification. Having already run in the 400 metres, he ran a season's best time of 21:42.
Women's Hockey: Former Irish under-21 international Katharine Maybin, who joined Pegasus this week, has been called up to the senior squad for the Celtic Cup in France which gets under way today, writes Mary Hannigan.
Maybin replaces Karen Humphreys, who has suffered a recurrence of an old Achilles injury and is doubtful for the World Cup Qualifier in a fortnight.
Ireland play France in their opening Celtic Cup match, before taking on Scotland tomorrow and Wales on Sunday, in what will be a dress rehearsal for the teams' pool meeting in the qualifier.
The squad has been buoyed by a successful training week in Holland where they beat Belgium 7-1 and top club side Den Bosch 1-0 , with Linda Caulfield scoring the winner.
IRISH SQUAD: A Boyles, P Magill, C McMahon, K Maybin (all Pegasus), T Browne, D Sixsmith, J Burke (all Hermes), S Rand, C McKean (both Loreto), A Platt (Ballymoney), L Caulfield (Trinity), L Lee (Sutton Coldfield), R Kohler (Cork Harlequins), C O'Brien (UCD), L McVicker (Ballymoney), E Cregan (Univ of Limerick), J Orbinson (Portadown), J McDonough (Belfast Harlequins).
CELTIC CUP (in Amiens) - Today: Ireland v France, 12.0; Scotland v Wales, 2.30. Tomorrow: Scotland v France, 12.0; Ireland v Wales, 2.30. Sunday: Scotland v Ireland, 11.0; Wales v France, 1.30.
Men's Hockey: As usual, the Annadale tournament starts the ball rolling again in home circles over the weekend, writes Dermot Ashmore. The Irish under-21s, preparing for the Junior World Cup in Tasmania in October, will be among the participants along with the all-Ireland champions, Pembroke Wanderers.
Also travelling to Belfast is a Cork selection (aiming to repeat last year's tournament win) as well as Three Rock Rovers who, according to the Avoca website, will have David Hanna and Graham Dowling among their new members.
