The Irish senior and under-18 women's hockey squads will be action this weekend, in Scotland and Germany respectively, with the seniors, who play eight internationals over the next three weeks, entering the final phase of their build-up to August's European Nations' Cup finals, writes Mary Hannigan. Following the weekend's two matches in Edinburgh, only the first of which counts as a full international, the squad will travel to Prague where they will play the Czech Republic twice, then on to Kampong for games against hosts Holland and Belgium, before completing their build-up with two matches against France in Dublin (August 7th and 8th).

Basketball: An innovative move by TnaG, the national television service, will give basketball followers the chance to see live weekly full-match coverage of the Men's Superleague next season, writes Johnny Watterson.

The programmes, which will be 90 minutes in duration, will be broadcast every Friday at 9.00 pm for the entire season beginning on October 1st and ending on March 10th. Currently basketball enjoys only live coverage of its major final on RTE television.

European Youth Olympics: A disappointing performance by the Irish under-16 soccer side saw them convincingly beaten by Spain in the bronze medal play-off in Esbjerg, Denmark, yesterday. Despite holding them scoreless until the break, Pete Mahon's Irish side were unable to prevent two impressive Spanish goals early in the second half. The result leaves Ireland fourth overall in the tournament.

Ireland: Henderson, Ross, Gartland, McCarthy, Capper, Ward, Brennan, Daly, Fenton, Rossiter, Fahy. Subs: McMahon for Gartland (68 mins), Kohlman for Ward (73 mins).