Tokyo Olympics: Boxers Brendan Irvine and Michaela Walsh suffer defeats on day three of the Games

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'I couldn't have done anything else' - emotional Irvine on Olympic exit

Tokyo Olympic Games on the BBC

Dates: 23 July-8 August Time in Tokyo: BST +8

Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sounds; live text and video clips on BBC Sport website and app

The Olympic dreams of Belfast boxers Brendan Irvine and Michaela Walsh are over after both suffered defeats on Monday.

Flyweight Irvine, who is the Team Ireland boxing captain, lost on points 4-1 to Carlo Paalam of the Philippines in the first round last-32 stage.

Walsh went down to Italy's Irma Testa on a unanimous 5-0 decision in the last 16 of the featherweight division.

Games debutant Walsh, who lost to the same boxer in the recent Olympic Qualifier, had received a bye in the first round of her competition.

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Tokyo Olympics: Boxer Michaela Walsh speaks to BBC Sport NI after her last 16 defeat

After his defeat, Irvine, who was competing in his second Olympics, said: "I'm absolutely devastated not to win. I've put so much in these past three years to get here.

"I just have to pick myself up and support the rest of the team now."

Ireland's women's hockey team lost 4-0 to the Netherlands in their second group game.

Goalkeeper Ayeisha McFarren starred for Ireland against the number one ranked side, as they scored three final quarter goals to seal victory.

Ireland beat South Africa 2-0 in their opener on Saturday and their next game is against Germany on Wednesday.

Felice Albers gave the Dutch an early lead but Ireland kept the world champions at bay for almost 40 minutes before late goals from Malou Pheninckx, Laurien Leurink and Frédérique Matla ensured a comfortable win.

The Netherlands had beaten Ireland by the same scoreline in June's Eurohockey tournament and extend their winning streak over the Irish team to 30 games, dating back to 1963.

McFerran commented after the game: "We defended really, really well and I'm really proud of how everyone just kept fighting right to the end. Overall, the Dutch showed they are number one for a reason."

Image source, Inpho
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Laura Nunnink and Anna O'Flanagan in action as the Netherlands beat Ireland 4-0

Great Britain's men's hockey team, which includes Northern Ireland natives players David Ames and Ian Sloan, earned a 3-1 win over Canada to make it two wins out of two.

Banbridge triathlete Russell White finished 48th in a time of 1:54.40 while archer Patrick Huston helped Team GB to a 6-0 win over Indonesia in their opening team event match.

Huston and his teammates subsequently lost 5-3 to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals but he will take part in the individual competition later in the week.

Ireland's Mona McSharry will compete in her first Olympic final in the 100m breaststroke after an impressive performance in the semi-finals.

The Sligo swimmer was 0.3 seconds off her own Irish record, qualifying for the final in a time of 1:06:59.

Finishing fourth, she becomes the first Irish swimmer to qualify for an Olympic final in 25 years, with her final taking place on Tuesday at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Brendan Hyland missed out on a place in the men's butterfly 200m having finished third in his heat, and 23rd overall. Similarly Ellen Walshe did not make the semis of the women's 200m individual medley having finished 19th overall in the heats.

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Tokyo Olympics: Mona McSharry qualifies for 100m breaststroke final

Turning at the 50m mark in 31.62, McSharry sat in sixth place, but an outstanding push in the second half of the race saw her finish fourth, 1.52 seconds behind South African Tatjana Schoenmaker who set an Olympic record on Sunday in the heats.

"I'm over the moon," an elated McSharry said afterwards. "That was the target, to make it round by round and when I got through the semi-finals yesterday it was just the plan to compete and race and try to make it into a final."

A win over Sri Lanka's Niluka Karunaratne means Nhat Nguyen is just one game away from a place in the last 16, after securing a 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) victory in his opening match.

Making their debut in the rugby 7's competition, Ireland's men fell to defeat in their opening pool game 33-14 to Rio 2016 bronze medallists South Africa.

Later in the day the Irish team went down 19-17 to USA despite tries from Hugo Lennox, Harry McNulty and Foster Horan.

Ireland will now need to defeat Kenya in their final game on Tuesday morning to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages.

Depending on other results a significant win may be required to ensure being on of the best two third-placed teams.

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