Boxing: Marvin Lee, the strong 21-year-old CIE middleweight, won a low-scoring tactical contest 5-3 to advance to the second round of the National Senior Championships at the National Stadium last night, reports Pat Roche.
But after accounting for the experienced Ian Timms, of Dublin's Quarryvale, Lee was concerned about a nose injury he sustained in the contest which could deny him a chance of a semi-final place.
He led 4-3 going into the final session but he caught Timms with solid lefts to the head as the Quarryvale man tried to turn the tide.
Karl Hogg of Larne and Noel Monteith of Dockers, Belfast, advanced in the lightweight division.
Athletics: Almost 800 athletes from 55 countries have submitted preliminary entries for the 29th IAAF World Cross Country Championships at Leopardstown, Dublin on March 24th-25th, reports Johnny Watterson.
All of the key nations are sending teams to contest both the men's and women's junior and senior events, although there is some doubt as to whether the powerful Ethiopians will be sending their strongest team.
Kenya, Britain, USA, Canada, France, Spain, Morocco and Ethiopia have each indicated that they are sending teams of 36 athletes each, who will compete for a prize fund of $560,000.
The Kenyan men are seeking their 16th consecutive win in the men's long course event and expected to lead the team will be the remarkable Paul Tergat, who hopes to capture a record sixth individual prize.
Ireland will also field a full 36 person team with Sonia O'Sullivan still undecided on whether to run either long or short races or both. Irish officials do not expect the four times silver medallist in the event, Catherina McKiernan, to take part, although she has not yet officially withdrawn.
It is Ethiopia's Olympic 5,000 champion Million Wolde who is distinctly unenthusiastic about running in the event and will give the competition a miss.
Final entries for the event must be submitted by March 13th and final declarations for the races made before a technical meeting on Friday March 23rd.
Tennis: Ireland's Davis Cup player, Peter Clarke dropped the opening set to Australian John Kerr in the quarter-finals of the ITF series in Gosford, Australia yesterday but finished on a high to take the match 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-4 for a semi-final place, reports Pat Roche.
Clarke hopes to go one step better than his bid in Sydney last week when he was the beaten finalist. But first, he must face Leigh Pearson, another Australian, seeded five, in today's semi-finals.
Skiing: Thursday was men's Giant Slalom day and first outing for the Irish men. After a week's training in St Anton both Pauli Schwarzacher-Joyce and Thos Foleywere handled the conditions well to finish a credible 37th and 41st respectively. Yesterday was the turn of the women to show their paces in the Slalom. Ireland's Tamsen McGarry set a very steady pace to finish 40th from a total field of 80 skiers.
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