Rowing: Ronan Byrne sets the pace at World Under-23s

Ronan Byrne led the way for Ireland on the third day of the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. The 20-year-old UCC man won his quarter-final of the single sculls by leading all down the course. He goes on to a semi-final on Saturday with real hope of making the A Final in this prestigious class.

The result for the Ireland women’s pair was very different. Tara Hanlon and Emily Hegarty would have had to finish third or better in their semi-final to qualify for the A Final. They became stuck in sixth and never broke into the race proper.

In the lightweight singles, Hugh Sutton had to settle for fifth in his quarter-final.

Sutton (19) fought hard to take a top-three place in the C/D semi-final. He held third coming up to the line but lost out to Marlon Colpaert of Belgium by .55 of a second. The UCC teenager will compete in the D Final for places 19 to 24.

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World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Poznan, Poland

Men

Single Sculls - Quarter-Final(First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Ireland (R Byrne) 7:20.26.

Lightweight Single Sculls - Quarter-Final(First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 5 Ireland (H Sutton) 7:55.8. C/D Semi-Final Two: 4 Sutton 7:42.69.

Women

Pair - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) - Semi-Final One: 2 Britain (2 H Scott) 7:52.09. Semi-Final Two: 6 Ireland (E Hegarty, T Hanlon) 8:15.53.