Sports Digest: Michael Collins and Ryan Lindberg are through to the next phase of the World Junior Boxing Championships following preliminary-round wins in Agadir, Morocco, yesterday.
Collins (64kg), from the Darndale club in Dublin, beat England's Brian Deere (37-35), while Belfastman Lindberg (54kg) stopped his Armenian rival in round three. Martin Lynch (69kg) and Ciarán McAuley (81kg) are out, however, after losing to English and American opponents.
John Joe Nevin was in the ring late last night while John Joe Joyce and Shane Cox will be in action today. Joyce faces a difficult task as there are American and Russian opponents standing between him and a podium position.
Connor shows timely form
Ryan Connor of the Seán Kelly M Donnelly team showed good form prior to this month's world under-23 championships when he finished seventh on a stage and sixth in the mountains classification in the two-day Triptyque des Barrages in Belgium over the weekend, writes Shane Stokes.
Connor was best placed of the team overall, finishing 24th. Mark Cassidy was 32nd and Páidí O'Brien was 52nd.
Meanwhile, Cathal Miller had a strong ride in his class in the four-kilometre pursuit at the Paralympic World Championships in Zurich yesterday.
Miller took eighth in the race, clocking 5:03 and smashing his previous Irish record of 5:17.6 in the process.
Jones included in US team
Former triple Olympic champion Marion Jones has been included in the US team for this weekend's IAAF World Cup in Athens.
Jones has not yet confirmed her participation although her manager George Wells said the 30-year-old would race at the World Cup meeting and in Shanghai later this month. She has until Friday to declare her intentions.
Jones was cleared of doping last Wednesday after her B sample tested negative for the banned blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO).
Jones's initial sample had tested positive for the drug at the US championships in June. Had the second sample also been positive, she would have faced a two-year ban from the sport.
