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Inter reject Chelsea’s £85m plus player offer

Inter Milan have rejected Chelsea’s offer of £85 million-plus Marcos Alonso for striker Romelu Lukaku.

The Belgium striker has jumped back on top of Chelsea’s wanted list of strikers after talks for Erling Haaland has reached a dead-end.

It has been reported by many outlets that Chelsea have already had two ”secret” bids turned down for Lukaku.

Inter’s board turned down the player plus cash deal as they see Lukaku as ”untouchable”.

Thomas Tuchel is keen to sign a world-class striker after Timo Werner failed to deliver in front of the goal so far.

Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland has been touted as Chelsea’s main priority this summer.

However, with Dortmund in no rush to sell and with a £150 million price tag, the deal for Lukaku is seen as a more realistic target.

The Italian side has already sold Achraf Hakimi to PSG to receive funds after financial difficulty held the club to ransom after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chelsea, who have put Tammy Abraham up for sale, and have recently sold Oliver Giroud to AC Milan, are in much need of a clinical striker.

Other options such as Robert Lewandowski and Tottenham’s Harry Kane has been touted as potential signings.

The latter being unlikely, with Daniel Levy’s stance on selling to rivals.

Lukaku left Chelsea back in 2014, after being sold to Everton, and was on the verge of re-signing with the London side in 2017 before Manchester United came in last minute with a deal.

After the departure of manager Antonio Conte, Inter announced Simone Inzaghi as their new coach.

He (Lukaku) has held productive talks with Inzaghi and remains happy at Inter.

Despite the interest from his former club, Lukaku has not pushed for a move, and will likely wait to see if Chelsea does match Inter’s demands before the deadline shuts on the 31st of August.

 

Olympic Athletics: Coscoran qualifies for semi, Healy loses out by 0.07 sec

Team Ireland were back in action again in the Olympic Stadium this morning. The Irish events started with Andrew Coscoran in the 1500m and Phil Healy in the 400m

Men’s 1500m Round 1 (Heat 1) – 01:27 – Andrew Coscoran

At just before 09:30 in a wet, rainy Tokyo, Coscoran lined up to take part in a fast competitive 1500m heat.

The Irishman came into this race ranked 40th in the world for this event. He had high hopes of qualifying for the semi-final but faced a star studded line-up.

He would need to challenge with the world number two, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and number four, Kenya’s Ronald Musagala. The top six finishers would qualify automatically and the next six fastest from the three heats.

 

Coscoran started his race fast and sat in seventh after the first lap, tucking into the inside lane. He is considered to run courageously with all his heart.

With 800m left he was in the middle of the pack. The 25-year-old has a very strong finish and as he heard to bell for the final lap, he produced a quick turn of pace.

In the final 100m he managed to overtake three more athletes and he finished the race in eighth. Although he was outside the outside automatic qualification but scored a very good time.

Team GB’s Jake Heyward finished the race in first while Ethiopa’s Teddese Lemi narrowly getting second.

Even though he was two seconds off his season best, the conditions proved tricky with three athletes not finishing the race.

Coscoran will now run in the semi-final on the morning of Wednesday, 5th August.

Women’s 400m Round 1 (Heat 5) – 02:17 – Phil Healy

Less than an hour later and Phil Healy was at the starting line of her third event of the Olympics. She previously ran in the 4x400m mixed relay final and got a personal best in the 200m heats.

The track had dried up slightly as she prepared herself for what is one of her strongest events. She was ranked at 41st in the world before the start which put her as the fourth favourite.

The world number three, Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson was also in lane two.

Only the top three fastest in each race plus the six fastest of the six heats would qualify for the semi-finals tomorrow.

 

Healy started the race strong but started to look tired, this would be understandable as it was her fourth race of the week.

In the final 150m she pulled an amazing amount of energy out of nowhere to push into fourth place in a time of 51.98 seconds.

With one heat left to go the West Cork woman was in a the qualification places but it would come down to the wire. In the most dramatic fashion, Cyrus’ Eleni Artymata beat out Healy by seven one hundredths of a second in the final heat to take her place.

This is the second time in as many days that Healy has missed out on a semi-final by less than half a second but she remained in high spirits.

This is the end of her Olympic journey but she has made Irish history at this Games as well as her country proud.

Team Ireland Boxer Harrington Guaranteed Medal After QF Win

Team Ireland boxer Kellie Harrington has guaranteed herself a medal after a dominant victory over Algerian Imane Khalif in the Women’s Lightweight division (57-60 KG) on Tuesday morning.

The Irish boxer sealed a dominant 5-0 victory on the judges’ scorecards to ensure the fourth medal for Team Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The Olympics’ top seed had a unanimous victory on four of the scorecards (30-27×4) with only one giving her a mark below the maximum (29-28).

The 31-year-old built on her impressive Olympic debut against Italy’s Rebecca Nicoli with another strong performance in the quarter-finals.

The amateur world champion started strongly with a commanding first-round that saw the Dubliner take an early lead on the scorecards with four of the five judges giving her the round.

Harrington made the lead an unassailable one, excluding a spectacular third round from Khalif, after a dominant second-round left all the judges without doubt.

Her speed proved too much for her Algerian opponent and her movement was on another level compared to Khalif.

A trip over her own shoelaces threatened to halt her momentum but the Portland Row native maintained her advantage.

A less dominant third round still saw the Irish woman take a 5-0 win on the scorecards to finish the fight.

Harrington was confident of her success directly after the fight, telling her corner that “[she had] a feeling” that her performance would guarantee her at least a bronze after just two Olympic boxing matches.

Harrington will now face Thai boxer Sudaporn Seesondee in the semi-final after her progression to the next round.

The fight will be a rematch of the 2018 AIBA World Boxing Women’s Lightweight title fight in New Delhi.

Harrington edged Seesondee in the title fight to take home gold with a 3-2 points win after amassing three five-nil wins on the way to the final.

Team Ireland Star Leon Reid Progresses To Semis With Season Best

Team Ireland track star Leon Reid has progressed to the semi-finals of the Men’s 200M event after his successful run in the heat on Tuesday morning.

Reid came fifth in heat seven but squeezed through to the next stage of the event with a season-best time of 20.53.

The 27-year-old beat his previous season-best by 0.26 with a strong run to ensure that his Olympics does not end after one race.

His 20.79 run to take home gold at the National Championships in June was beaten soundly at the Olympic Stadium.

The Menapians Athletics Club member beat out Ukraine’s Serhiy Smelyk by the fine margins after the pair finished their heats with the exact same recorded time.

A strong run from start to finish with an exceptional final burst sealed the result for Reid in what was the fastest heat out of all seven scheduled.

Fellow Team Ireland athlete Marcus Lawler was also in action on Tuesday morning, competing in the same event as Reid.

Lawler ran in the heat before Reid and finished the 200 metres in a time of 20.73 but it was not enough to progress after he crossed the line outside of the automatic qualification spots in sixth.

However, the 26-year-old ran a new season-best, beating the previous time of 20.99 that he set when he took bronze in the Men’s 200M at the National Championships, two places behind Reid.

The Clonliffe Harries athlete will return home after just one race but will have a new best time this season to bring home with him.

The athlete’s focus will now turn to Paris 2024.

The Men’s 200M semi-finals will take place on Monday afternoon with the first of three starting at 12:50.

Leon Reid will compete in the third semi-final which is scheduled to begin at 13:05.

To see the list of remaining Irish athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, click here.

‘Dublin Bench One Area Of Weakness’ – Eamonn Fitzmaurice

Former Kerry manager and pundit on The Sunday Game Eamonn Fitzmaurice has labelled the current Dublin bench as their biggest weakness following their Leinster Senior Football Championship win over Kildare.

The All-Ireland winning manager cited the lack of impact the Dublin bench had on the game – Ryan Basquel was the only point scorer off the bench.

He compared the Dublin benches from previous Delaney Cup successes over Kildare and Laois in 2017 and 2018 with the one at the county’s disposal on Sunday.

The past benches featured the likes of Jack McCaffrey, Kevin McManamon and Paul Flynn.

Their bench in the 2017 final against Kildare was worth seven points to Dublin on the day, six greater than the bench on Sunday amassed.

Fitzmaurice noted that the bench is “possibly one area that [Dublin] aren’t as strong as they were”.

The bench has been a huge asset to Dublin’s football team in recent years with their replacements having been able to enter the match after 50 minutes and play to the same level and intensity the starters had.

McManamon was the most recognisable figure that Dublin would look to when they needed a change and the St Judes forward is the catalyst for several important moments throughout the team’s recent history.

He is still part of the Dublin panel but is currently in Tokyo as the sports psychologist is part of Team Ireland’s boxing camp.

Fitzmaurice praised Dublin’s high work rate under Dessie Farrell and used examples from Sunday’s game to showcase that.

The Sunday Game pundit analysed their performance and labelled the intensity they showed as the county’s “cornerstone”.

Dublin, although troubled in attack for periods of the final, put up a dogged display, retaining the ball all over the pitch throughout the game.

Fitzmaurice applauded the Dublin forwards for tracking back and helping out their defence whenever Kildare had possession.

Their inability to roll over for their opposition is something that Fitzmaurice believes is proof that the side is still among the top teams in the country.

“I think their work rate and the way they are tackling shows they’re not ready to give it up just yet.”

Dublin Football Manager Dessie Farrell On Leinster Final Win v Kildare

Dublin Gaelic football manager Dessie Farrell spoke about Dublin’s performance in their Leinster Senior Football Championship final win over Kildare on Sunday.

Dublin beat Kildare by 0-20 to 1-9 in Croke Park to retain the Delaney Cup and win their 60th Leinster title overall.

Dessie Farrell’s side was not perfect on Sunday but a strong third quarter put the game beyond any doubt after a close third half.

The eight-point win margin was the county’s lowest in a Leinster final since 2013 when Jim Gavin’s Dublin beat Meath by seven points (2-14 to 0-15) on their way to a first All-Ireland out of six under the 10-year Dublin veteran.

Dessie Farrell gave his thoughts on the Delaney Cup win over Kildare in a post-game interview with DubsTV.

The inter-county manager lamented his side’s shot selection in the first half after they squandered several chances.

The side looked as if they wanted to walk the ball through the Kildare defence and it was detrimental to their impact in the opening half.

Their strong third quarter saw the side revert to taking high-possibility chances when presented with them.

“Having discussed it at half-time, the players themselves saw that as a challenge,” Farrell said.

Kildare played the game defensively with some extra players dropping back to stifle the Dubs’ impact in attack.

Their set-up led to Dublin often moving the ball from side to side in an attempt to open up spaces for their forwards to take advantage of.

Ciarán Kilkenny led the Dubs’ third-quarter charge with two points, with Niall Scully also grabbing two in a period that was worthy of the Leinster title.

Dublin’s focus now turns to their All-Ireland semi-final showdown with Connacht champions Mayo, in a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final.

“[Mayo] were very, very impressive in that second-half performance against Galway in the Connacht final. Very little separates the teams over the year’s so I think everyone can expect a massive tussle.”

Irish Contingent Win Major League Rugby

Four Irish players have won Major League Rugby with their club, the Los Angeles Giltinis.

USA-capped Luke Carty, Irish Sevens ‘original’ Harry McNulty, his brother Sean McNulty and Sean O’Brien are all on the club’s books.

Carty, O’Brien and Sean McNulty all came off the bench for their team’s MLR Shield win in their club’s inaugural season in the league.

The LA Giltini’s cruised to a 31-17 victory against Rugby ATL at the LA Memorial Coliseum on Sunday night.

Former Connacht academy out-half Luke Carty has two caps for the United States national side after moving to LA, qualifying for the side through his grandmother.

The 23-year-old made his debut for the US against England and then started against his native Ireland last month, having only moved to the States earlier this year.

Sean O’Brien joined LA from the Leinster academy on a short-term contract in June and is a native of the US.

He played for the Ireland U20s last year and made his debut for the Leinster senior team earlier this year before moving stateside for more game-time.

Hooker Sean McNulty is a former Leinster academy player who played for Ireland up to the U20 level.

The 26-year-old is also US-qualified having spent much of his youth living in the States and first moved back over from Ireland to join the New England Free Jacks in 2019 before shifting to the Giltinis ahead of this season.

Older brother Harry was the only player out of the four not in the matchday 23 after he returned to America from the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Former Enniscorthy player Ross Deacon and former Leinster back Mark O’Keeffe were among the 23-man squad of the runners-up.

Deacon scored a late try to provide a consolation for the Atlanta side who were second-best on the day.

Olympic Equestrian Final: O’Connor jumps to top 15

Team Ireland had one sole representative left in the Eventing Individual Jumping Final. Austin O’Connor riding Colorado Blue came into the final in 18th place

O’Connor and his team took part in the Eventing Team final this morning in which the team finished eighth. To read more about it, click here.

Colorado Blue was the only Irish horse remaining after finishing 18th in qualification. The 2009 gelding and his rider replaced Cathal Daniels and Rioghan Rua early in the competition due to veterinary reasons.

Coming into this new event in the Equestrian Park in Tokyo, they had accumulated 42 fault points. They were not expected to challenge for the podium but could improve their score to finish in the top 15.

The new course in Tokyo had a 60 second time limit over the 375m sand track with tough fences to jump. Knocking a fence would cause a 4 point penalty and any second over 60 would lead to a 0.4 point penalty.

After finishing 18th, O’Connor would ride eight after USA’s Philip Dutton on a horse called Z.

Colorado Blue made a brilliant run only knocking one fence on a triple jump that stumped a lot of previous horses. The fault on 5B would lead to their only penalty in a great run.

Colorado Blue also became the first horse of the final to complete the course in 60 seconds. This put him and his rider in first place with a total score of 46.00.

The two managed to remain in first place after six more horses came and went. France’s Karem Florent Laghouag riding Triton Fontaine narrowly ousted the Irish from the top of the podium with a score of 45.20.

As the competition went on, the best well-rounded horses and their riders gave their attempts. O’ Connor slowly slipped down the rankings but had still left his impression on the tournament.

Germany’s Julia Krajewski riding Amande de B’Neville won gold with a score of 26.00. Team GB’s Tom McEwen on Toledode Kerser got silver while Australia’s Andrew Hoy on Vassily de Lassos got bronze.

The 45-year-old O’Connor from Mallow ended the Olympic final in 13th place, with the country being proud of him and his horses achievement.

Olympic Equestrian final: Irish team finish 8th, O’Connor through to final

Team Ireland reached the Olympic eventing team final, they were in eighth after the cross country. Now they had the jumping event with high hopes of a good finish

The Ireland team is made of four riders and horses; Sam Watson on Flamenco, Austin O’Connor on Colorado Blue, Sarah Ennis on Woodcourt Garrison and Cathal Daniels riding Rioghan Rua.

This Irish team came to the Equestrian Park in high spirits after posting a penalty score of 161.00 landing them in eighth. In the jumping category they planned to improve to outscore Italy and Germany ahead of them.

This competition looked to be a battle between Great Britain, Australia and France for the medals after the first day of riding.

The top 25 riders would also qualify for the Equestrian eventing individual final tonight at 12:45.

 

Sarah Ennis was up first for Ireland riding Woodcourt Garrison. The Howth woman received a disappointing total penalties score of 79.70 after four faults.

She performed perfectly over the first five fences and again rode well over a tough triple jump later on.

Next up an hour later was Carlow’s Sam Watson riding the Irish-bred Flamenco. He got 55.30 in penalty scores with the team positions remaining the same as the last round.

He was in 20th overall, after being frustrated in the cross country event but finished strong.

Last up for Ireland was Austin O’Connor riding the 2009 gelding Colorado Blue. He stood a chance of making the individual final after doing well in the cross country.

He ended his run with four faults with an individual total of 42.00. That put him as Ireland’s best competitor with a chance of the Eventing Jumping finals.

After 10 more riders, O’Connor finished in 18th, giving him another day of riding Colorado Blue at the Equestrian Park.

Team Ireland ended up finishing in eighth place sandwiched between Italy and China.

After Oliver Townsends last run, he guaranteed Team GB’s spot on the top of the podium. Australia took silver while France won bronze.

Olympic Diving: Dingley fails to reach semi-final

Team Ireland’s first diver Oliver Dingley took to Tokyo Aquatics Centre at 07:00 looking for qualification to for the semi-final

China’s Zongyuan Wang and Korea’s Haram Woo were the big favourites in this event but the Irish man only needed to finish top 18 to make in to the semi-final.

This was Dingley’s second appearance at the Games after he became Ireland’s first Olympic diver in 68 years while in Rio 2016.

Scoring works by seven judges scoring the dive, the highest two and lowest two scores are crossed out. The remaining three scores are added together and multiplied by the degree of difficulty for a final score.

Dingley came up in 18th in Round 1 of diving. Many of his other competitors seemed nervy going into the event with a few small mistakes making the scoring low.

The Dublinman started with his easiest dive, an inward two and a half somersault with only a difficulty of three. He received sevens across the board from the judges.

He knew he would have to go harder in the next round to bring his score into qualification place.

Dingley next tried a forward three and a half somersault with a difficulty of 3.1. He did not score well, not tucking correctly and over rotating.

He continued to up the difficulty in round 3 with a 3.4, forward two and a half somersault with two twists. Dingley was not happy again as he was over on entry, getting himself 5.5 from the judges.

At the halfway point in diving, Dingley sat in 26th place and would need to improve on his final three for a chance of progression.

His fourth dive did not please the Irish man either as he attempted an easier 3 difficulty but under rotated and did not score well again.

At this point Wang had breezed ahead of all the other competitors given himself more than 20 point lead. After round four, Dingley was in 27th.

Following two great dives, Dingley attempted a reverse 2 and half somersault. Although slightly over rotating, this was one of his better dives so far.

With his final dive he would need 40 more points than the men ahead of him to qualify  but Dingley still gave it his all.

In his final dive, he tried a back two and a half somersault with a one and a half twist. Although he performed the routine cleanly, it would not be enough to progress.

China’s Wang easily got first and is now favourite for gold. Dingley bowed out of the Olympics finishing in 25th with 335 points.

 

 

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