Team Ireland’s swimmer Mona McSharry secured her slot in the 100m Breaststroke semi-final in Tokyo Aquatic Centre today with a strong swim of 1:06.39 for third place in her heat today – just shy of her PB of 1:06.29 – to finish 9th overall and qualify through to tomorrow’s semi-final swim.
McSharry’s teammate Danielle Hill was also in action today in the Women’s 100m Backstroke heat, where she posted a time of 1:00.86, for 3rd place in her heat, and 25th position overall, while Emmet Brennan rounded off the action for Ireland on Day Two, losing out to Dilshod Ruzmetov of Uzbekistan by unanimous decision in his opening Round of 32 bout.
BOXING
Dublin’s Emmet Brennan was the only Irish boxer in action today, and lost out by unanimous decision this evening in his Men’s Light Heavy Round of 32 bout against Dilshod Ruzmetov of Uzbekeztan. World silver medallist, Ruzmetov, had a strong opening round, and though Brennan put the pressure on in the second round, Ruzmetov finished strong to progress to the next stage.
Speaking after the fight, Brennan said: “I’m gutted. It’s an Olympic Games, you come here to win and ultimately, I was beaten in the first fight. He was a good opponent, but a loss is never easy – especially on the biggest occasion in the world. You want to go as far as you can, you know you need a best night every fight and I didn’t have my best night – it’s as simple as that.”
SWIMMING
Team Ireland’s swimmer Mona McSharry secured her slot in the 100m Breaststroke semi-final in Tokyo Aquatic Centre today with a strong swim of 1:06.39 for third place in her heat today – just shy of her PB of 1:06.29. The Sligo native was ranked 11th coming into the event, and placed 9th overall, to progress tomorrow’s semi-final.
Speaking afterwards she said: “I’m really excited, it was really nice to do that, it really is something else competing at the Olympics and I’m really glad that I’ve got the first race done now – and I’m so happy that I get to do another one.”
An Olympic Record was set by South African Tatjana Schoenmaker in her heat, which added that extra push.
“I really burned coming up the last 25m,” McSharry admitted. “I could see the Swiss coming up the right of me and I was like, ‘I’m not letting her touch me out!’. I thought she almost had me, but I really pushed the last 10m. It’s really nice to be competing against great swimmers that are breaking records like that and say that you were in the same race as them.”
McSharry’s teammate Danielle Hill was also in action today in the Women’s 100m Backstroke heat, where she posted a time of 1:00.86, for 3rd place in her heat, and 25th position overall – outside of the top 16 progressing to the semi-finals.
Speaking afterwards, Hill said: “I’m a little disappointed with how it went, I would have liked to perform a little bit better, especially given that it is an evening swim but at the same time, I’m proud to put the Irish hat on and represent Larne as well.
“I think I was a little bit scared to attack it if I’m being brutally honest, I should have gone out and attacked it but that’s what I’ve got to learn and the only way I’m going to learn it is by doing it wrong.”
Action continues for Team Ireland, with the men’s triathlon getting underway tonight (Irish time), while Irish athletes are in action across hockey, swimming, sailing, canoeing and boxing. Ireland’s only badminton athlete Nhat Nguyen gets his debut Olympic campaign underway tomorrow, while Ireland’s rugby sevens will also make their debut at the Games tomorrow with games against South Africa and USA.
ENDS
EVENING RESULTS DAY TWO: JULY 25TH, 2021
BOXING:
Men’s Light Heavyweight (75-81kg) Round of 32 – Dilshod Ruzmetov (UZB) Vs Emmet Brennan (IRL), Win for UZB 5-0
SWIMMING:
Women’s 100m Backstroke, Heat 3 – Danielle Hill 3rd in heat and 25th overall with a time of 1:00.86
Women’s 100m Breaststroke, Heat 5 – Mona McSharry 3rd in heat and 9th overall with a time of 1:00.39 (progresses to semi-final)
DAY THREE SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES ARE IRISH TIME): July 26th, 2021
22:30* Triathlon – Russell White (*this event takes place on the night of July 25th Irish time)
02:00 Hockey – Netherlands v Ireland, Women’s Pool A Game 2
02:50 Swimming – Mona McSharry – Women’s 100m Breaststroke semi-final
03:00 Rugby Sevens – South Africa v Ireland, Men’s Pool C Game 1
04:03 Boxing – Brendan Irvine (IRL) v Carlo Paalam (PHI) – Men’s Flyweight, Round of 32
06:00 Canoe Slalom – Liam Jegou – Semi-Final
06:27 Boxing – Michaela Walsh (IRL) v Irma Testa (ITA) – Women’s Featherweight, Round of 16
06:35 Sailing – Annalise Murphy, Laser Radial, Races 3 and 4
10:30 Rugby Sevens – USA v Ireland, Men’s Pool C Game 2
11:20 Badminton – Nhat Nguyen (IRL) v Niluka Karunaratne (SRI) – Men’s Singles Group Play
11.20 Swimming – Brendan Hyland – Men’s 200m Butterfly Heat 2
11.45 Swimming – Ellen Walshe – Women’s 200m Individual Medley Heat 4
