Ireland to face heavyweight opponents at Games
IRELAND’S men’s hockey team have been handed a tough task at the Paris Olympics as they will face Belgium, the Tokyo gold medallists and number two ranked team in the world, in their opening match on July 27. They will then enjoy a 48-hour break before a gruelling schedule of three games in three days against Australia, ranked fifth in the world, India (fourth) and Argentina (seventh). The final group game will come against New Zealand, who sit two places above Ireland in the world rankings at 10th. The top four countries in the two Pools will advance to the knockout phase of the tournament. Ireland qualified for the Paris Games in January after defeating South Korea 4-3 in a contest for the final spot and have spent much of the last month in India where they played in the FIA Pro League against other Olympic-bound countries including the Netherlands, India, Australia and Spain.
Meanwhile, Crumlin super-heavyweight Martin McDonagh moved within two fights of a spot in Paris after dominating Turkey’s Yusuf Acik in the Olympic qualification tournament in Italy. The 21-year-old, who is competing in his first major international tournament, won every round on every judge’s scorecard and will now go on to face Tokyo Olympian Danis Latypov — a Russian who fights for Bahrain — for a place in the superheavyweight quarterfinals. Tokyo Olympian Aidan Walsh will be back in action in the welterweight division today, one of six Irish fighters still competing for a spot in Paris at this tournament.