Boxing: The highly-fancied John Kinsella was last night beaten 9-2 in his super-heavyweight bout with Hungarian champion Peter Best at the Chemie Cup in Halle, Germany - reducing his hopes of qualifying for the Olympics later this year. Light-middleweight Michael Roche pulled off a 5-2 victory over his Georgian opponent, Renus Botschorifchwili, but there were defeats for James Moore, Liam Cunningham and Eugene McInerney in what was one of the final opportunities to qualify for the Sydney Games.

Cycling: At the end of stage four of the Tour of Egypt, Eugene Moriarty recorded another high placing for the Irish team, sprinting home fourth in a large bunch finish. His Ireland team-mate David McCann crossed the line in the same time as stage winner Wadachi Piotr of Poland, and remains best placed of the team in fourth place, two minutes and 53 seconds behind leader Leipeikis Remigijus of Latvia.

Tennis: The inaugural Irish Schools' Senior Tennis Cup proved quite a success for Sligo entries when the qualifying rounds were completed at venues throughout the country yesterday. Summerhill College and Ursuline Convent, Sligo, claimed places in the grand finals at Riverview on March 24th.

Both Sligo schools were in action at Irvinestown, one of eight venues to host a total of 78 teams from second-level schools.

Hockey: New Zealand stunned Britain with a last-gasp equaliser to snatch a 2-2 draw in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Osaka yesterday.