The third day of action at the European Games, saw Team Ireland emerge victorious in the Division 3 category in the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow, Poland. The athletics programme takes the format of the European Team Championships, and Team Ireland set out with a goal of topping the table, in order to move back to Division 2.
In an historic first for Padel, the Men’s Double of Sam McKibbon and Sean Neave progressed out of their Round of 32, with a 2-0 win over Albania. They face one of the top seeds, Portugal later this evening.
The Boxing draw took place today, ahead of a crucial tournament for Team Ireland, with Olympic qualification spots on the cards.
All of the action from the European Games can be viewed live HERE
Note – from 23rd of June, these daily reports will come from @Sinead Naughton’s email address.
ATHLETICS
Ireland took victory in Division 3 of the athletics at the European Games in Poland.
The competition doubled up as the European Team Championships, with forty-four athletes named on the Irish team.
Prior to the event, the main objective was to achieve promotion to Division 2 which was done in a comfortable fashion, with Ireland finishing nearly twenty points ahead of nearest challengers Austria.
The Men’s and Women’s 200m kick-started the Irish success on the final day of competition. Bandon’s Phil Healy who was one of two team captains for the event as chosen by Athletics Ireland finished second in the women’s race (23.79).
“It’s mad to think that I’m team captain,” she said. It’s ten years since I made my senior debut and got my first Irish vest at the Team Championships in Dublin. I’ve come a long way since. It’s a wonderful team and it’s a privilege to be captain.”
Mark Smyth produced a clinical performance to win the Men’s 200m in 20.66. The Dubliner eased up before the line, clearly savouring every second of his victory.
“It was nearly as fast as my Indoor PB. I probably could’ve beaten it if I didn’t celebrate so early. I’m just happy to be part of this Irish squad, just doing my bit and getting the maximum number of points possible,” he said.
Sophie O’Sullivan, daughter of Olympic medallist Sonia, impressed to win the Women’s 1500m in 4.27.96 in what was her first senior international appearance for Ireland.
“It was what I wanted to do, get the points for Ireland and do my part to get them into the next division. I did the job so I’m pretty happy. It’s exciting to be back in the Irish kit, it’s been a few years,” she said.
In the distance events, Laois teenager Ava O’Connor finished a respectable third in the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase (10.18.10), while Fearghal Curtin was also third in the Men’s 5000m (14.17.64).
Eric Favors, who traces his Irish roots back to Ballina, won the Men’s Shot Put throwing 20.28m.
“I’m very happy. I’m glad to have been able to put our team into a better position to win. I did what I could do,” he said.
There were also wins in the field for David Cussen (Men’s High Jump) and Ruby Millet (Women’s Long Jump).
Kildare’s Grace Casey finished fifth in the Javelin, Conor Cusack was third in the Javelin, while Sommer Lecky finished in the Women’s High Jump.
Ireland’s 4x400m Mixed Relay team rounded off the event with a comfortable victory crossing the line in 3.17.16.
Athletics Ireland High Performance Director Paul McNamara was delighted with the performance of his team:
“We smashed it in the end. All the athletes delivered over the three days, but I think we had some really heroic performances today that pushed us across the line,” he said.
PADEL
The Irish pairing of Sam McKibbon and Sean Neave are into the top 16 teams of the Men’s Doubles after a dominant win in their opening round. Up against the Albanian team of Marco Montanaro and Fjoralb Curri, Team Ireland led from the start, winning both sets, 6-3, 6-3.
“It was good fun” said McKibbon, “We had a little nervous start together but after that we got through it, we played the game against two of our friends who we met recently in the hotel so it was a very good game and we enjoyed it a lot, and hopefully now we can get into the next round and give it more excitement than we’ve already given it.”
McKibbon (Bangor) and Neave (Kerry) are still a relatively new pairing having only played seven matches together before today. This didn’t hold them back as they finished both sets 6-3. Both athletes are currently living in Spain and travel back to Ireland to train with the National Irish team and to compete at international events.
Talking on the match against Portugal later today Neave said,
“We’ll have a very hard game against Portugal, we’re going to fight and give it our best and hopefully we can come out with another win”
The team from Portugal of Alfonso Fazendeiro and Miguel Oliveira are seeded fifth in the games and won their match this afternoon against Austria 2-0. McKibbon and Neave will be looking for a win against Portugal for that qualifying spot into the quarterfinals tomorrow. They take to the court again at approximately 15:30pm (IST) this afternoon.
BMX
Last night, Team Ireland’s Ryan Henderson put in two impressive runs as he made his European Games debut in the BMX Freestyle.
The 27-year-old faced a two-hour delay due to rain, but showed no effects of this, opening his first run with his signature double back flip. Henderson landed the whole run, scoring 61.33. The Belfast man also had a clean second run, scoring 63.00 points, for an average of 62.16 and 22nd place overall.
The top-12 riders made tomorrow’s final, 2019, 2021 and 2022 European Champion Anthony Jeanjean of France taking the top spot with 85.16 points.
Speaking after the event Henderson commented ‘I felt like my ride was really good today, I just missed out on a few bits, the competition was just so hard, everybody managed to stay on. Overall, I’m happy, it was just a tough contest.’
Boxing
The draw for the boxing tournament took place today. The draw was unseeded, and will see several of the athletes receive byes, the following are the Irish draws:
Women’s 50kg – Daina Moorehouse (IRL) Bye
Women’s 54kg – Jennifer Lehane (IRL) V Sara Cirkovic (SRB)
Women’s 57kg – Michaela Walsh (IRL) V Olga Pavlina Papadatou (GRE)
Women’s 60kg – Kellie Harrington (IRL) V Miroslava Jedinakova (SVK)
Women’s 66kg – Amy Broadhurst (IRL) V Milena Matovic (SRB)
Women’s 75kg – Aoife O’Rourke (IRL) Bye
Men’s 51kg – Sean Mari (IRL) Bye
Men’s 57kg – Jude Gallagher (IRL) V Javier Ibanez Diaz (BUL)
Men’s 63.5kg – Dean Clancy (IRL) V Arsen Chabyan (AUT)
Men’s 71kg – Dean Walsh (IRL) Bye
Men’s 80kg – Kelyn Cassidy (IRL) V Mindaugas Gedminas (NOR)
Men’s 92kg – Jack Marley (IRL) Bye
RESULTS – 22nd of June 2023
Athletics
Day Three – Athletics results – Ireland
David Cussen | Men’s High Jump | 1st | 2.11m
Phil Healy | Women’s 200m | 2nd | 23.79
Mark Smyth | Men’s 200m | 1st | 20.66
Grace Casey | Women’s Javelin Throw | 42.04
Ava O’Connor | Women’s 3000m Steeplechase | 3rd | 10:18:10
Eric Favors | Men’s Shot Put | 1st | 20.28m
Fearghal Curtin | Men’s 5000m | 3rd | 14:17:64
Ruby Millet | Women’s Long Jump | 1st | 6.33m
Sophie O’Sullivan | Women’s 1500m | 1st | 4:27:96
Conor Cusack | Men’s Javelin Throw | 3rd | 63.95
Sommer Lecky | Women’s High Jump | 1.74m | 3rd
Mixed 4x400m Relay (Nelvin Appiah, Roisin Harrison, Callum Baird, Sharlene Mawdsley) | 1st | European Lead 3:17:16
Padel
Ireland (Sam McKibbon & Sean Neave) V Albania (Marco Montanaro & Fjoralb Curri) 2-0 (6-3, 6-3)
BMX
BMX Freestyle Men Preliminaries: Ryan Henderson – Run 1 61.33 | Run 2 63.00 Total 62.16 (22nd)
**************************************
SCHEDULE – 22nd of June 2023 (afternoon)
(all times in Irish time, with local time in brackets):
Padel KSOS Club
15:30 (16:30) Men’s Doubles (Sam McKibbon & Sean Neave) Round 1 Ireland V Portugal
**********************************
SCHEDULE – 23rd of June 2023
(all times in Irish time, with local time in brackets):
Boxing (Nowy Targ Arena)
12:00 (13:00) Women’s -60kg Kellie Harrington(IRL) V Miroslava Jedinakova (SVK)
12:00 (13:30) Men’s -57kg Jude Gallagher (IRL) V Javier Ibanez Diaz (BUL)
13:00 (14:00) Men’s 63.5kg – Dean Clancy (IRL) V Arsen Chabyan (AUT)
Archery (Plaszowianka Archery Park):
07:45 (08:45) Men’s Recurve Individual Ranking Round (Oskar Ronan)
12:00 (13:00) Women’s Recurve Individual Ranking Round (Emma Davis)
Canoe Sprint
08:07 (09:07) Women’s Canoe Single 500m Heat 1 (Jenny Egan)
15:44 (16:44) Women’s Canoe Single 500m Semi-Finals (Jenny Egan) * if she qualifies*
Diving Schedule
9.00 (10.00) Women 10m Platform Preliminaries (Ciara McGing)
14.00 (15.00) Mixed 3M Synchro Final (Clare Cryan & Jake Passmore)
19.00 (20.00) Women 10m Platform Final (Ciara McGing)
Taekwondo
12:00 (13:00) Men’s -58kg (Jack Woolley) *draw ongoing HERE*
Padel
TBC Depending on this afternoon’s competition.
