Irish to see action early

Ireland's three competitors at the World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, will go straight into action when the three-day competition begins tomorrow. Peter Coughlan has a morning start to his 60 metre hurdles first round while James Nolan and David Matthews run their 800 metres heats later in the afternoon.

This will be Coughlan's first experience at indoor championship level although his current form suggests he may progress to the later rounds. Last month he twice broke the long-standing national record of 7.69 seconds by reducing it to 7.57 seconds and his recent training under American coach Loren Seagrave in Atlanta has obviously proved useful. The 23-year-old Dubliner, however, faces a quality field of the world's leading hurdlers, including defending champion Anier Garcia of Cuba.

James Nolan has also indicated some useful form this season, most recently by breaking the late Noel Carroll's 33-year-old 800 metres record with a time of one minute 47.26 seconds. Nolan has learned some valuable lessons in the last few months, including a fall at the British AAA Championships and a close second place at the Millrose Games, and is looking for a place in the final. Matthews, meanwhile, has plenty of experience at this level although his times so far this season have been short of his best.

The championships will see 15 of the 26 individual champions defending their titles, including Wilson Kipketer of Denmark who broke the world record on his way to 800 metres gold in Paris two years ago.

Irish Team

James Nolan

Club: UCD.

Event: 800 metres.

Coach: Brendan Hackett

Indoor Best: One minute 47.26 (National record).

Championship Record: Made senior debut at the World Indoor Championships in 1997 and at the European Indoors in Valencia last year finished just outside the medals. Also made the semi-final in the European Championships in Budapest in the summer. Recently defended his Irish indoor title in Nenagh.

David Matthews

Club: UCD.

Event: 800 metres.

Coach: Jim Kilty

Indoor Best: One minute 47.93.

Championship record: Extensive experience at major championships including two World Championships and the Atlanta Olympics. Finished one place behind Nolan in the European indoors last year and was also at the last World indoor's two years ago.

Peter Coughlan

Club: Crusaders. Event: 60m hurdles.

Coach: Loren Seagrave

Indoor Best: 7.57 seconds (National record)

Championship Record: First made a breakthrough in 1997 in qualifying for the World Championships in Athens over the 110 metres hurdles. Last summer won the National title for the second time and also made the Irish team for the European Championships in Budapest.

Team Manager: Liam Hennessey.