Tokyo Olympics: Walsh wins as last-gasp try denies sevens quarter-final spot - NI day four at the Games
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Tokyo Olympics: Aidan Walsh targets Olympic medal after debut win
Boxer Aidan Walsh is through to the quarter-finals of the men's welterweight competition at the Olympic Games in Tokyo after a win over Cameroon's Albert Mengue Ayissi.
Belfast-born Walsh, whose sister Michaela lost her opening round bout on day three, used his superior height advantage to seal a unanimous decision.
Ireland's rugby sevens team are heading home despite a 12-7 win over Kenya in their final pool game.
They miss out on the quarter-finals.
Last-gasp heartbreak for sevens
Ireland went into Tuesday's game knowing they needed to win by at least eight points to progress and made the perfect start as Hugo Lennox and Harry McNulty crossed for early tries, Billy Dardis converting the latter.
Vincent Onyala touched down under the posts with less than a minute left on the clock to break Irish hearts, Daniel Taabu adding the additional two points.
Making their first appearance at the Games, Ireland had lost to Rio bronze medallists South Africa and the USA in their first two pool matches on Monday.
Tokyo Olympics: Ireland beat Kenya in rugby sevens but are out of the Games
Dominant Walsh into last eight
Walsh was happy to fight on the defensive in the early stages of his contest with Ayissi, who was the busier of the two fighters in the opening minutes but scoring with very little.
The Irish boxer landed a neat combination with 30 seconds to go of the first round and four of the five judges scored it in his favour.
Walsh continued to be successful fighting on the counter, caching his Cameroon opponent with some nice scoring punches, with Ayissi being deducted a point for punching the back of the head.
Landing freely with his jab, Walsh was awarded the second round by all five judges.
Ayissi was given a second point deduction at the start of the third and thereafter Walsh adopted a cautious approach, becoming more economical with his punches.
A fine right hook just before the bell sounded underlined Walsh's dominance.
"I want to push on now, not just be an Olympian but to become an Olympic medallist," said Walsh after his fight.
Mona McSharry set a new Irish record of 1:06.59 in her semi-final on Monday
McSharry 'proud' to make it to final as Wiffen smashes national record
Sligo's Mona McSharry came eighth in the 100m breaststroke final in a time of 1:06.94 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre after becoming the first Irish swimmer to make a final in 25 years.
The 20-year-old will also compete in the 200m breaststroke, starting with her heat on Wednesday morning.
"It's amazing, thinking about it like that, that there hasn't been anyone else who has done this in 25 years, I think it puts it into perspective," said McSharry.
"For me, racing in it is just another final - but it really is a lot more than that. It makes me feel so proud that I made it there."
Daniel Wiffen produced a magnificent swim to win his men's 800m freestyle heat with a new national record of 7:51.65, although it was not enough to take the 20-year-old Armagh man into the final.
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Elsewhere in the pool, Darragh Greene was seventh in his 200m breaststroke heat with a time of 2:11.09 that saw him fall short of a semi-final place. The 4x200m freestyle relay team of Finn McGeever, Jack McMillan, Brendan Hyland and Shane Ryan clocked 7:15.48 to finish 14th overall, with McMillan breaking an Irish senior record in the first leg with a time of 1:46.66.
In sailing, the Irish crew of Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove won the first of 12 races to lead the fleet in the 49er class and get their campaign off to a perfect start.
Annalise Murphy was 10th in race six of the Laser Radial class to move up to 20th overall with four races to go, while Carolyn Hayes of Ireland finished a creditable 23rd in the women's triathlon.
Rory McIlroy will play with Open champion Collin Morikawa and Japan's Sungiae Im in the opening round of the men's golf competition while Shane Lowry will partner Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Reed in his group.
Patrick Huston, competing for Great Britain, must wait until Wednesday for his first shoot in archery's men's individual competition as adverse weather caused that competition to be postponed.
The GB men's hockey team, who have Northern Ireland natives Ian Sloan and David Ames in their ranks, suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat by Germany, having won their opening two games.
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