Irish four hope they're on the right track to glory

Athletics: Hoping to replicate the medal achievements of Gary O'Toole (Swimming), Sonia O'Sullivan and Niall Bruton (Athletics), four Irish athletes will attempt to win medals at the World Student Games tomorrow.

Ireland will have both James Nolan and Gareth Turnbull running in the 1,500-metres final (8:30 a.m. Irish time). Colin Griffin will be participating in the 20-kilometre walk final in the morning.

Also in the hunt tomorrow will be Robert Daly from UCD, who came third in his 400-metre semi-final today in a time of 46:23. Belfast's Paul McKee was unfortunate not to qualify in his semi-final, coming fifth behind Egypt's Radawy Amin in a time of 47:21. Earlier today, Maria Lynch (4:16.28) made a brave debut on the world stage coming in fifth in the 1,500 metres.

Maria Lynch failed to survive the opening round of the women's 1,500 metres after finishing fifth behind Sureyya Ayhan of Turkey, 2.5 seconds down in 4:16.23.

The Irish soccer team will play Uruguay tomorrow. The winners will go through to play either Iran or France to decide the ninth and 10th seeding in the tournament.

Tennis: Using the lop-sided nature of the Leinster Women's Open Championship as an example, it was clear last night that the Templeogue committee had chosen the best format, a rated-draw for the Men's Irish Open. This arrangement allows local players to get a few matches under their belts before trying their luck against the big guns.

Colin O'Brien, the recently crowned Irish under-18 champion made a seamless transition into the national senior scene with a 6-1 6-2 win over Morgan Taylor.

Meanwhile Karen Nugent, the top seed in the provincial championship event raced to a 6-0 6-1 win over Stefanie Sheppard.

Golf: Allison Coffey carries Irish hopes into the European Ladies Amateur Individual golf Championship this morning over the Billa course in the Turin area of Italy.

The 28-year-old Irish champion, and Britain and Ireland international, figures prominently in the event in Poland last summer but finished just outside the medals.

Coffey is in the line-up by virtue of her being a member of the Vagliano Trophy team which narrowly lost to the continent of Europe in Venice last month. "It is a tricky course and one needs to be very accurate," she said. The champions of all four home countries are playing and there is a strong continental entry as always. Competitors play one round on each of the next four days.