Irelands most likely Olympic 2012 Medals

With the Olympic Hockey deciders just days away for our men's team here is a preview of the qualifying tournament to be held in Dublin (10th-18th March).

Ireland have been drawn in a group of 6 nations, each will play each other once in the round-robin group stage with the top 2 nations advancing to the winner takes all play-off. Only the winners will go on to compete at the Olympics in the summer.

Opponents:

1. Korea (world ranked 6th)
2. Malaysia (world ranked 13th)
3. IRELAND (world ranked 16th)
4. Russia (world ranked 20th)
5. Chile (world ranked 26th)
6. Ukraine (world ranked 29th)

As the world rankings in hockey don't often reflect current form (as with most sports, but particularly so with hockey as they only update 3-4 times a year) here is some results that can act as a guide to gauge the form and pedigree of each of our competitors.

KOREA:

History:
Korea are a leading hockey nation and they have competed in each of the last 4 Olympic Games (going back to Atlanta 1996).
They won the Olympic silver medal in Sydney 2000 and in the last edition of the Games in Beijing they placed a creditable 6th.
They also finished 4th at the Hockey World Cup in both 2002 and 2006 and placed 6th in the 2010 World Cup.

Currrent Form:
Champions Trophy- this is the biggest annual hockey tournament in which only the world's 8 best nations compete in the top division. Korea finished last in this tournament but they were up against stiff opposition it has to be said. Here are Korea's results from this tournament.

Netherlands 2-0 Korea
Korea 1-6 New Zealand
Korea 3-3 Germany
Pakistan 6-2 Korea
Great Britain 4-3 Korea
7th/8th place play-off Pakistan 5-4 Korea (A.E.T.)

Ireland v Korea:
At the INSEP 5 Nations Tournament in Paris last summer, the Irish men surprised everyone by thrashing their opponents 5-1. So Ireland have the capacity to put it up to this mighty team but they will no doubt be Ireland's hardest opposition and when the heat of competition is on, Korea are usually pretty good.

MALAYSIA:

History:
Malaysia failed to qualify for the last 2 Olympics and placed 11th at both the 1996 and 2000 Games.
Their World Cup form has not been too great of late either as they failed to qualify for the last 2 tournaments but finished 8th at the 2002 World Cup, their most recent to date.

Current Form:
Champions Challenge I - this is an annual tournament for the second tier nations (below the Champions Trophy). Malaysia finished 5th of 8 competing nations. Here are their results from the tournament:

Canada 3-1 Malaysia
Malaysia 2-2 Japan
Malaysia 2-5 Argentina
Malaysia 2-1 Japan
5th/6th place play-off Malaysia 3-0 Poland

Malaysia recently played Wales in a double-header of matches to help them acclimatise to local climatic conditions (i.e. cold and damp!!) and whilst they won the first match 3-1, Wales stunned them in the second match to win 1-0. Wales are not a big-time hockey nation to say the least (world ranked 27th) so this result will be encouraging for the Irish.

Ireland v Malaysia:
The two teams met 4 times at U.C.D. in the summer of 2010 in a 4-match test series. Here are the results from those matches:

Ireland 3-3 Malaysia
Ireland 2-4 Malaysia
Ireland 2-3 Malaysia
Ireland 2-1 Malaysia

So with only a win and a draw from those 4 matches, it is clear that Malaysia had the upper hand on that occasion and they certainly have the pedigree to perform strongly in the Olympic qualifying tournament. But as I said earlier, that was 18 months ago and the Irish team has got a lot more experience and are generally a better team than they were then. Malaysia are very dangerous opposition however, but they can be very hit-and-miss in terms of their displays on the hockey pitch. Some days they are world-beaters, other days, well they lose 1-0 to Wales!

RUSSIA:

History:

Russia have little history of note when it comes to men's international hockey.

Current Form:
Men's Champions Challenge II - this is an annual international tournament for third tier hockey teams. Russia finished 3rd of 8 teams in the 2011 tournament behind winners Ireland. Here are Russia's results from the most recent edition of the tournament in 2011:

France 5-4 Russia
Russia 4-2 Scotland
Russia 0-4 IRELAND
Czech Republic 1-9 Russia
Russia 2-9 IRELAND
Scotland 1-3 Russia

Ireland v Russia:

Judging from those two results from that tournament, Ireland should have too much for Russia. Their main threat however seems to lie in their attack and they have the ability to put a decent amount of goals on the scoresheet.

The two nations again met at the 2011 EuroHockey Nations Cup where both sides played in the top division. Ireland overcame the Russians 8-2 on that occasion, the result helping the boys in green to survive in the division and would eventually condemn the Russians to relegation to the lower division for the 2013 Eurohockey tournament. For reference, Russia's other results at that tournament were as follows:

Spain 5-0 Russia
Germany 7-0 Russia
Belgium 7-1 Russia
Russia 5-2 France

CHILE:

History:
No significant history.

Current Form:
The Pan-American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico last autumn provides us with the best indicator of Chile's form. However, it must be said that the quality of this tournament is generally poor barring Argentina and Canada. Chile retained their bronze medal at this tournament:

Chile 9-1 Barbados
Chile 0-4 Canada
Trinidad & Tobago 1-3 Chile
Argentina 7-1 Chile
Cuba 3-4 Chile

Ireland v Chile:

Ireland beat Chile 4-1 in a World Cup qualifier last time round and if truth be told, Ireland should have very little to worry about when they come against their South American opponents.

UKRAINE:

History:
No significant history.

Current form:
Eurohockey Nations II (Second tier European competition).
Scotland 2-1 Ukraine
Belarus 2-5 Ukraine
Austria 3-2 Ukraine
Wales 0-1 Ukraine
Sweden 3-4 Ukraine

Ukraine finished 5th in this tournament, placing them 13th overall in Europe.

Ireland v Ukraine:

Again, Ireland should find little to trouble them when they come up against the Ukrainians.



Overall then, on the face of things, it looks like there will be a 3 way battle between Ireland and the two east-Asian sides Korea and Malaysia.
Korea will be favourites to claim the Olympic ticket but Ireland on their home patch should give it a real good shot. The boys in green know how to beat these teams and if they can keep their heads and take the game to the Koreans then they are capable of upsetting the odds. They would become the first Irish hockey team to make the Olympics in the process. Ireland have a decent schedule in the qualifiers with easier games coming at the start, hopefully settling them into the swing of things before the serious opposition presents itself. I think we have a cracking chance to do it this time, fingers crossed!

Here are some of Ireland's most recent results which might give a reference to the team's current form:

2011 Champions Challenge II: (third tier international tournament)
Ireland won this tournament, seeing off 7 other nations of a similar ranking to themselves. This ensured their place in the next edition of the Champions Challenge I tournament. Results from this competition:

IRELAND 3-2 Scotland
IRELAND 2-2 France
Russia 0-4 IRELAND
IRELAND 6-2 U.S.A.
Russia 2-9 IRELAND
FINAL: France 2-4 IRELAND

2011 Eurohockey Nations Cup:
Ireland finished in 5th place overall in this very competitive tournament. Here are the Irish results from that competition:

England 4-2 IRELAND
France 0-2 IRELAND
Netherlands 7-4 IRELAND
Russia 2-8 IRELAND
Spain 2-3 IRELAND

Some recent warm-up matches:

IRELAND 4-0 Czech Republic (U.C.D.)
IRELAND 9-0 Czech Republic (U.C.D.)

Valencia, Spain Training Camp:
IRELAND 0-2 Spain (Feb.13)
IRELAND 0-1 Belgium (Feb.12)
IRELAND 0-3 Belgium (Feb.9)
IRELAND 5-4 Belgium (Feb.8)
IRELAND 1-1 Spain (Feb.6)

Bisham Abbey, Britain Training Camp:
IRELAND 2-2 Great Britain (Jan.27)
IRELAND 1-1 Great Britain (Jan.26)

Alicante, Spain Training Camp:
IRELAND 1-3 Netherlands (Jan.24)
IRELAND 1-2 Netherlands (Jan.22)
IRELAND 1-4 Netherlands (Jan.20)

UPDATE: Shani Stallard set a new Irish Senior record in the 200m Breastroke at the British Olympic Trials today.
Her time is good enough for the Olympic Selection time but sadly still some way short of the automatic Olympic Qualifying Time.
Also, Jonathan Quinn just dipped under the Olympic selection time at the Irish Olympic Trials last weekend in the men's 200m Individual Medley, setting a new Irish Senior record in the process.

Note:
Swimmers in bold have achieved the Olympic qualifying standard and are elligible to take part in the Olympics.
The Olympic Invitation time is a minimum time needed for a swimmer to be invited to take part in the Games.
Irish swimmers must achieve the Olympic qualifying standard, but those swimmers who have achieved the qualifying standard in an event can also enter other events in which they have only achieved the Olympic invitation time.
In essence, the Olympic qualifying time and the Olympic invitation time act in a similar way to the A and the B qualifying standards process used in athletics.

MEN:

SWIMMER|EVENT|OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TIME|OLYMPIC INVITATION TIME|BEST SWIM TIME 2011/12|
Barry Murphy|50m Freestyle|22.11secs|22.88secs|22.89secs|
Ryan Harrison|200m Freestyle|1:47.82mins|1:51.59mins|1:49.18mins|
Karl Burdis|100m Backstroke|54.40secs|56.30secs|55.90secs|
Barry Murphy|100m Breastroke|1:00.79mins|1:02.92mins|1:00.77mins (QT)|
Andrew Bree|100m Breastroke|1:00.79mins|1:02.92mins|1:02.54mins|
Andrew Bree|200m Breastroke|2:11.74mins|2:16.35mins|2:15.46mins|
Jonathan Quinn|200m Individual Medley|2:00.17mins|2:04.38mins|2:04.25mins|


WOMEN:

SWIMMER|EVENT|OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TIME|OLYMPIC INVITATION TIME|BEST SWIM TIME 2011/12|
Fiona Doyle|50m Freestyle|25.27secs|26.15secs|26.04secs|
Fiona Doyle|100m Freestyle|54.57secs|56.48secs|56.75secs|
Melanie Nocher|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:00.49mins|
Sycerika McMahon|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:00.61mins|
Grainne Murphy|200m Freestyle|1:58.33mins|2:02.47mins|2:00.02mins|
Grainne Murphy|400m Freestyle|4:09.35mins|4:18.07mins|4:13.61mins|
Sycerika McMahon|400m Freestyle|4:09.35mins|4:18.07mins|4:13.85mins|
Grainne Murphy|800m Freestyle|8:33.84mins|8:51.82mins|8:31.14mins (QT)|
Nuala Murphy|800m Freestyle|8:33.84mins|8:51.82mins|8:50.15mins|
Aisling Cooney|100m Backstroke|1:00.82mins|1:02.95mins|1:01.76mins|
Melanie Nocher|100m Backstroke|1:00.82mins|1:02.95mins|1:01.92mins|
Melanie Nocher|200m Backstroke|2:10.84mins|2:15.42mins|2:11.71mins|
Sycerika McMahon|100m Breastroke|1:08.49mins|1:10.89mins|1:09.24mins|
Fiona Doyle|100m Breastroke|1:08.49mins|1:10.89mins|1:09.65mins|
Fiona Doyle|200m Breastroke|2:26.89mins|2:32.03mins|2:31.05mins|
Shani Stallard|200m Breastroke|2:26.89mins|2:32.03mins|2:30.63mins|
Bethany Carson|100m Butterfly|58.70mins|1:00.75mins|1:00.58mins|
Grainne Murphy|200m Individual Medley|2:13.36mins|2:18.03mins|2:15.82mins|
Sycerika McMahon|200m Individual Medley|2:13.36mins|2:18.03mins|2:16.14mins|
Grainne Murphy|400m Individual Medley|4:41.75mins|4:51.75mins|4:44.61mins|
Sycerika McMahon|400m Individual Medley|4:41.75mins|4:51.75mins|4:49.87mins|

Dodge wrote: »

It means that someone like Grainne Murphy can swim 5 events (if timetable suits) rather than just the one she qualified in

Infostrada's latest predictions have ireland winning a gold (Taylor) and a bronze (Nevin)

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/london-olympics/medal-table

They don't seem to have updated the boxing as they still have Moylette and Egan very highly ranked

Yes, any swimmer who achieves the OQT in an event can enter other events in which they achieved the O.S.T. (invitation time) as this does not affect swimming's quota of 900 swimmers at the Olympics.
Swimmers with only the O.S.T. must wait to see if they are invited to take part by F.I.N.A. They will use a ranking points system to determine which performances merit an invitation until they use up all available quota positions. However, for Irish swimmers, the O.C.I. have made it clear that they will only send swimmers with the O.Q.T.

Here is the full fixture list for that all-important Olympic qualifying tournament which will be held at the National Hockey Centre, U.C.D. in the coming days (10th-18th March):

Date and Time|Fixtures
10/03/2012 (Sat.12:00)|Malaysia 5-1 Chile
10/03/2012 (Sat.14:15)|IRELAND 6-1 Russia
10/03/2012 (Sat.16:30)|Korea 8-2 Ukraine
11/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|Malaysia 6-2 Russia
11/03/2012 (Sun.14:45)|Ukraine 0-12 IRELAND
11/03/2012 (Sun.17:00)|Korea 6-1 Chile
13/03/2012 (Tue.13:00)|Ukraine v Malaysia
13/03/2012 (Tue.15:30)|Russia v Chile
13/03/2012 (Tue.18:00)|IRELAND v Korea
15/03/2012 (Thu.13:00)|Russia v Ukraine
15/03/2012 (Thu.15:30)|Malaysia v Korea
15/03/2012 (Thu.18:00)|Chile v IRELAND
17/03/2012 (Sat.11:00)|Korea v Russia
17/03/2012 (Sat.13:15)|Chile v Ukraine
17/03/2012 (Sat.15:30)|IRELAND v Malaysia
18/03/2012 (Sun.12:00)|5th v 6th
18/03/2012 (Sun.14:30)|3rd v 4th
18/03/2012 (Sun.17:00)|1st v 2nd (OLYMPIC PLAY-OFF MATCH)


Country|W|D|L|F|A|+/-|PTS
IRELAND|2|0|0|18|1|+17|6
Korea|2|0|0|14|3|+11|6
Malaysia|2|0|0|11|3|+8|6
Russia|0|0|2|3|12|-9|0
Chile|0|0|2|2|11|-9|0
Ukraine|0|0|2|2|20|-12|0

Good start for our men's hockey team at the Olympic qualifiers in U.C.D.
A comfortable 6-1 victory over Russia and a decent goal difference racked up. Next up for them is the Ukraine on Sunday (2:45pm).

In sailing news, Ireland's Peter O'Leary and David Burrows finished in 2nd place at the prestigious Bacardi Cup in Miami. The duo finished just 3 points of winners France in the men's Star, replicating their second place from last year's competition. This is encouraging form ahead of the Olympics, let's hope they can keep it going in the run up to London.

http://www.afloat.ie/sail/events/olympics-2012/item/18152-french-crew-pip-oleary-and-burrows-for-bacardi-honours

Ireland's Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe has finished in 25th place at the Modern Pentathlon World Cup in Charlotte, netting valuable Olympic qualifying points in the process. Arthur was lying marginally outside of the Olympic qualifying positions in the rankings before the opening World Cup leg of the season so this positive result should see him close up on the pentathletes above him. This was a historic competition for Irish Modern Pentathlon as it was the first time ever that a male pentathlete from Ireland made the final of a World Cup event. The Irish trio of Arthur, Natalya and Eanna move on to Rio for next week's second stop on the World Cup circuit.

A fantastic 1-1 draw against pre-tournament favourites Korea has kept Ireland in a strong position to advance to the Olympic play-off finale scheduled for Sunday evening. The result leaves Ireland in second place after 3 matches and with Malaysia up against Korea on Thursday and Ireland with a seemingly easier match against winless Chile it means Ireland could well return to the top of the table after Thursday's procedures.
Another encouraging predicament for the Irish is that if Korea lose to Malaysia on Thursday it could open the door right up for the boys in green to go all the way as that would be a result that could eliminate the Koreans.
As I said, Ireland's next fixture is against Chile on Thursday at 6pm. It's beginning to hot up now.

Joe Ward secured a comfortable 14-5 victory over Moldovan light-heavyweight Victor Cotunjanski. Michael Conlan will fight Bredal Inanci of Turkey in tomorrow's flyweight quarter-final.

Irish boxers were in action on day 2 of the Chemistry Cup in Germany with Michael Conlan and David Oliver Joyce advancing to the semi-finals in their weight categories. Conlan came through his encounter with Turkish flyweight Erdal Inanci 10-6 while Joyce edged a 16-16 tie with Germany's Youth Olympic champion Arthur Brill in his lightweight contest.
Darren O'Neill however is out of the competition after he was defeated in his middleweight bout with Kazakhstan's Suzhanov on a 14-9 scoreline. The Kazak boxer is a tough fighter having reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Baku in 2011. O'Neill has fought some very decent opposition at the tournament, having come through yesterday's clash with the World bronze medalist from Romania.
The rest of the Irish team are in action throughout the day with Con Sheehan coming up against the Olympic silver medalist from China in the super-heavyweight division while Joe Ward is up against a very tough fighter from Uzbekistan, Elshod Rasulov, who is a former Asian Games champion.

Irish heavyweight Steven Ward was defeated by Wang Xuanxuan, the current world bronze medalist, on a 16-9 scoreline.

UPDATE: The Irish men's hockey team overcame Chile 3-0 this evening to set up an important clash with Malaysia on Paddy's Day. Ireland are now sitting at the top of the table level on points with the Koreans and 1 point ahead of Malaysia. However, with Korea having a seemingly comfortable fixture against the Russians on Saturday it means that Ireland will need a draw to secure their place in Sunday's do-or-die Olympic play-off decider. Malaysia will be a huge test on Saturday as they know that they must now beat the Irish to keep their Olympic hopes alive. So in summary, Ireland need only a draw with the Malaysians on Saturday but anything less will spell elimination and no Olympic hockey for the summer for our men. It's set up excitingly now with a big big Paddy's day coming up for the Irish, the crunch match gets underway at 3:30pm. Bring it on!

Here is the full fixture list for that all-important Olympic qualifying tournament which will be held at the National Hockey Centre, U.C.D. in the coming days (10th-18th March):

Date and Time|Fixtures
10/03/2012 (Sat.12:00)|Malaysia 5-1 Chile
10/03/2012 (Sat.14:15)|IRELAND 6-1 Russia
10/03/2012 (Sat.16:30)|Korea 8-2 Ukraine
11/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|Malaysia 6-2 Russia
11/03/2012 (Sun.14:45)|Ukraine 0-12 IRELAND
11/03/2012 (Sun.17:00)|Korea 6-1 Chile
13/03/2012 (Tue.13:00)|Ukraine 1-5 Malaysia
13/03/2012 (Tue.15:30)|Russia 4-3 Chile
13/03/2012 (Tue.18:00)|IRELAND 1-1 Korea
15/03/2012 (Thu.13:00)|Russia 2-0 Ukraine
15/03/2012 (Thu.15:30)|Malaysia 2-3 Korea
15/03/2012 (Thu.18:00)|Chile 0-3 IRELAND
17/03/2012 (Sat.11:00)|Korea 5-1 Russia
17/03/2012 (Sat.13:15)|Chile 4-2 Ukraine
17/03/2012 (Sat.15:30)|IRELAND 1-1 Malaysia
18/03/2012 (Sun.12:00)|5th v 6th
18/03/2012 (Sun.14:30)|3rd v 4th
18/03/2012 (Sun.17:00)|1st v 2nd (OLYMPIC PLAY-OFF MATCH)


Country|W|D|L|F|A|+/-|PTS
Q Korea|4|1|0|23|7|+16|13
IRELAND|3|2|0|23|3|+20|11
Malaysia|3|1|1|19|8|+11|10
Russia|2|0|3|10|20|-10|6
Chile|1|0|4|9|20|-11|3
Ukraine|0|0|5|5|31|-26|0

knockcon wrote: »

Dan Man you are on fire! Question. The calibre of boxer competing in the Chemistry Cup....is it Olympic Standard? The Irish lads are performaing well, but are the boxers they are competing against the same guys who they will be up against in April at Qualification?

The Chemistry Cup is a prestigious competition and indeed the calibre of boxers who the Irish guys are up against is top-notch. There are multiple Olympic, world and continental champions and medalists here and most of the top nations such as Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan are at the competition. Just look at Darren O'Neill's draw for the tournament: he was up against the current world bronze medalist Juratoni from Romania in the opening round and his reward for victory was another tough clash with the Kazak boxer who reached the quarter-finals at the Worlds and one of the best in the world in his division. So yes, the talent on display is awesome, but of course not all nations have entered the tournament (no Cuba and some other good eastern European nations are missing). But a good display here bodes very well for the qualifiers in Trabzon as this is a high quality competition.

Ok, so after some very encouraging performances on the World Cup circuit (hopefully continuing this weekend in Rio), the Irish have one female and one male modern pentathlete in the hunt for Olympic qualification.
Natalya Coyle is storming up the Olympic rankings based on her reaching the final of both world cup races so far this year and is currently inside the qualifying positions. Her encouraging form would suggest that she should indeed go on to secure qualification for London when the process concludes (1st June).
Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe is also firmly in pursuit of a place at the London Olympics and if he can qualify for this weekends World Cup final in Rio he will be in a good position to succeed in this aim.
Here is a run-down on the qualifying procedure and the current standings in the Olympic rankings:

QUALIFICATION PROCESS:

• 36 men and 36 women will take part in the Olympic Pentathlon in London.
• The maximum number of pentathletes allowed to compete in London for each nation is 2 men and 2 women.
• So far, 24 of the 36 places have been filled in each of the men's and women's events meaning that there are 12 remaining positions in both the men's and women's competition available to be filled.
• As 2 of these 12 remaining places are invitation spots it means that the Irish pentathletes will be fighting for 10 remaining quota spots in each category, 3 of which will be awarded to the top 3 non-qualified finishers at the 2012 World Championships in Rome at the end of May.
• All this means that the Irish pentathletes in order to guarantee qualification through the Olympic rankings, they must be amongst the highest 7 ranked athletes who have not qualified through any of the above procedures.

Here is the current Olympic pentathlon rankings with an explanation as to who occupying those Olympic slots.
Q represents those pentathletes who have not yet qualified for the Olympics but are amongst those 7 available qualifying positions from the Olympic rankings:

Women:

Currently there will be 8 places available in this ranking system as the host nation quota spot will be re-allocated to the next highest ranked pentathlete.

1. Lena Schoneborn (Germany) - already qualified through UIPM World Cup Final.
2. Laura Asadauskaite (Lithuania) - already qualified through European Championships.
3. Victoria Tereshuk (Ukraine) - already qualified through European Championships.
4. Mhairi Spence (Great Britain) - Q1
5. Eva Trautmann (Germany) - Q2
6. Sarolta Kovacs (Hungary) - already qualified through the European Championships.
7. Elodie Clouvel (France) - already qualified through the World Championships.
8. Elena Rublevska (Latvia) - already qualified through the European Championships.
9. Yane Marques (Brazil) - already qualified through the World Championships.
10. Adrienn Toth (Hungary) - already qualified through the European Chmapionships.
11. Evdokia Gretchichnikova (Russia) - already qualified through the World Championships.
12. Leila Gyenesei (Hungary) - already 2 pentathletes from that country in qualifying positions.
13. Heather Fell (Great Britain) - already 2 pentathletes from that country in qualifying positions.
14. Freyja Prentice (Great Britain) - already qualified through the European Championships.
15. Annika Schleu (Germany) - already 2 pentathletes from that country in qualifying positions.
16. Ekaterina Khuraskina (Russia) - already qualified through the European Championships.
17. Anastasiya Prokopenko (Belarus)- Q3
18. Sylvia Gawlikowska (Poland) - Q4
19. Yuliya Kolegova (Russia) - already 2 pentathletes from that country in qualifying positions.
20. Natalie Dianova (Czech Republic) - Q5
21. Iryna Khokhlova (Ukraine) - Q6
22. Margaux Isaksen (U.S.A.) - already qualified through the Pan-American Games.
23. Claudia Cesarini (Italy) - Q7
24. Sabrina Crognale (Italy) - Q8
25. Natalya Coyle (IRELAND)

So as you can see, as it stands, Natalya is just outside of the qualifying spots in the Olympic rankings. However, as at least one of those other 8 pentathletes occupying Q spots are bound to be amongst the 3 best non-qualified finishers at May's World Championships, some of those quota spots will in all likelihood be made available and Natalya is in prime position to take up one of these places. Also, it is conceivable that Natalya herself may get amongst the 3 best non-qualified pentathletes at the World Championships and she may not need to rely on the Olympic Pentathlon Rankings. Additionally, Natalya is flying up the rankings so she will challenge strongly for one of those quota places over the coming weeks and months. Her qualification for the final of the second leg of the World Cup series in Rio this week will further boost her hopes.
Prognosis: it's looking promising for Natalya, and after yet another World Cup final this week in Rio, she should move up the rankings further.

Men:

Currently, 8 men are elligible to qualify from this ranking system as the host nation quota spot will be re-allocated to the next highest ranked pentathlete.

1. Aleksandr Lesun (Russia) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
2. Robert Kasza (Hungary) - already qualified through the UIPM World Cup Final.
3. Adam Marosi (Hungary) - already qualified through the World Championships.
4. Ilia Frolov (Russia) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
5. Serguei Karyakin (Russia) - already qualified through the European Championships.
6. Bence Demeter (Hungary) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
7. Pavlo Tymoshchenko (Ukraine) - Q1
8. Andrei Moiseev (Russia) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
9. Nicholas Woodbridge (Great Britain) - Q2
10. Dmytro Kirpulyanskyy (Ukraine) - already qualified through the European Championships.
11. Thomas Daniel (Austria) - already qualified through the World Championships.
12. Riccardo De Luca (Italy) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
13. Nicola Benedetti (Italy) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
14. James Cooke (Great Britain) - already qualified through the European Chmapionships.
15. Justinas Kinderis (Lithuania) - Q3
16. Peter Tibolya (Hungary) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
17. Pierpaolo Petroni (Italy) - already qualified through the European Championships.
18. Alexander Nobis (Germany) - Q4
19. Jinhwa Jung (South Korea) - already qualified through the Asian/Oceania Championships.
20. David Svoboda (Czech Republic) - Q5
21. Stanislau Zhurauliou (Belarus) - Q6
22. Jean Maxence Berrou (France) - Q7
23. Hwang Woojin (South Korea) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
24. Delf Borrmann (Germany) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
25. Mikalai Hayanouski (Belarus) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
26. Sam Sacksen (U.S.A.) - Q8
27. Stefan Kollner (Germany) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
28. Pavlo Kirpulyanskyy (Ukraine) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
29. Christopher Patte (France) - elligible for qualifying if he moves into quota positions.
30. Jin-woo Hong (South Korea) - already qualified through the Asian/Oceania Championships.
31. Federico Giancamilli (Italy) - already qualified through the European Championships.
32. Steffen Gebhardt (Germany) - already qualified through the European Championships.
33. Denis Cerkovskis (Latvia) - elligible to qualify if he moves into quota positions.
34. Choon-huan Lee (South Korea) - already 2 pentathletes qualified from that country.
35. Ondrej Polivka (Czech Republic) -elligible to qualify if he moves into the quota positions.
36. Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe (IRELAND) - elligible to qualify if he moves into the quota positions.

So with 8 spots available in this ranking system for non-qualified pentathletes, Arthur is effectively lying 12th non-qualified pentathlete currently, outside of the qualifying positions. However, 3 men ahead of him may well qualify directly from the World Championships in Rome in May and Arthur himself could qualify from those championships. There will also be 2 invitation spots so things are looking encouraging for his chances to compete in London.
Prognosis: just outside the qualifying places but is positioned well to make a drive for qualification and he is in with a very good chance of securing an Olympic place, be it through the rankings system or the World championships and if all else fails he can be hopeful of being considered strongly for one of the 2 invitation places.

I hope I have explained that as best I can, sometimes these qualifying procedures can be hard to get to grips with. In summary, Natalya is in a very strong position and if she continues in her current form she will comfortably qualify for the London Olympics. Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe is just outside of the qualifying spots but if he can put in some strong performances over the next couple of World Cup events (hopefully including this week in Rio) he will be in with a very good chance of going to the Olympics. Eanna Bailey is ranked 75th in those Olympic rankings and although highly unlikely he will qualify, it is not impossible providing he puts in some very impressive results over the coming months. The qualification deadline is June 1st. Best of luck to them all.

Irish flyweight Michael Conlan lost an agonisingly close contest against his Mongolian opponent, losing only on countback after the scores were locked at 15-15 after three rounds. While disappointing to lose, it is yet another encouraging sign for Conlan that he will be in the hunt for honours at the London Olympics as his opponent Serdamba is the Olympic silver medalist from light-flyweight and a former world champion and current world bronze medalist, so to run him as close as he did is a great performance.
David Oliver Joyce also suffered defeat at the hands of Conceicao of Brazil in his lightweight semi-final, losing on a scoreline of 17-10.

Here are the fixtures for that Olympic qualifying tournament which gets underway tomorrow. The fixtures will be played in Kontich, Belgium (17th-25th March):

Date and Time|Fixtures
17/03/2012 (Sat.10:00)|Spain 7-0 Mexico
17/03/2012 (Sat.12:30)|IRELAND 5-1 France
17/03/2012 (Sat.15:00)|Belgium 4-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.10:00)|Spain 2-1 France
18/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|IRELAND 3-0 Russia
18/03/2012 (Sun.15:00)|Mexico v Belgium
20/03/2012 (Tue.12:00)|Mexico v IRELAND
20/03/2012 (Tue.14:30)|Russia v France
20/03/2012 (Tue.17:00)|Belgium v Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.13:00)|Russia v Mexico
22/03/2012 (Thu.15:30)|IRELAND v Spain
22/03/2012 (Thu.18:00)|France v Belgium
24/03/2012 (Sat.09:00)|France v Mexico
24/03/2012 (Sat.11:00)|Spain v Russia
24/03/2012 (Sat.17:00)|Belgium v IRELAND
25/03/2012 (Sun.10:00)|5th v 6th
25/03/2012 (Sun.12:30)|3rd v 4th
25/03/2012 (Sun.15:00)|1st v 2nd (OLYMPIC PLAY-OFF MATCH)


Country|W|D|L|F|A|+/-|PTS
Spain|2|0|0|9|1|+8|6
IRELAND|2|0|0|8|1|+7|6
Belgium|1|0|0|4|0|+4|3
France|0|0|2|2|7|-5|0
Mexico|0|0|1|0|7|-7|0
Russia|0|0|2|0|7|-7|0

Awesome news coming through from Rio where our modern pentathletes are in pursuit of Olympic qualifying points at the second leg of the 2012World Cup Series. After history was made last week in Charlotte, Ireland will once again have both a male and female representative in the final of a World Cup event. Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe has joined Natalya Coyle in this weekend's final by coming through his heat today, placing 11th, finishing inside the top 12 qualifying positions. This is very good news for Arthur and for the Irish team as it means that he will pick up more vital Olympic ranking points to help propel him up the leaderboard further. The higher he can place in Sunday's final, the more points he will put in the bag and help push him towards London 2012. Eanna Bailey had a great competition also, finishing 17th in his heat. Unfortunately he missed out on a final spot by 5 places but his rising presence on the international scene bodes very well for the future. The sport of Modern Pentathlon is experiencing a sort of Renaissance in Ireland and there are very positive signs that by 2016 and beyond, we can look to have some very decent results in international competitions. Well done to all involved with the sport I say, they are obviously doing something right. Hopefully they can push on and make a big impact in the near future.

The Irish women's hockey team have started off in impressive style in their Olympic qualifiers with a 5-1 drubbing of France. Next up for the Irish is a meeting with Russia tomorrow afternoon at 12:30p.m.

Has Dan Martin being mentioned for a medal in cycling

Dan man wrote: »

It'll be good to see Dan Martin in action in London, not sure the course will be suited to him, but you never know how it'll all pan out. He's a superb talent but it's hard to hang a medal around the neck of any road race rider beforehand. It's just too unpredictable. I'm really looking forward to the men's Olympic road race though, it's on the first morning of Olympic action, will be interesting to see how Dan, Nicholas and the other rider (be it Brammeier or Deignan) gets on.

Well my cash is on Dan

Ireland has another Olympian this morning after Maria McCambridge achieved the qualifying standard for the women's marathon in Rome today. Her finishing time of 2hrs 36 mins 37 secs is just inside the A standard of 2:37hrs, ensuring that Ireland will have the full quota of 3 women marathon runners at the 2012 Olympics. Fantastic news. Now let's hope the men's hockey team can do the business and make it a day to remember.

The Irish women's hockey team continued strongly in their Olympic qualifiers today with a comfortable 3-0 win over Russia. Ireland stay joint top of the group ahead of Tuesday's meeting with Mexico scheduled for 12:00 noon. They should have nothing to worry about with the Mexicans but the girls will be keen to put a fair few goals away to boost goal difference. So far so good.

Returning to more positive news, Irish pentathlete Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe finshed 20th at today's second leg of the World Cup Series in Rio. This adds more precious points to his Olympic ranking tally and Arthur is now edging towards the qualification positions. The Olympic rankings finalise on June 1st but there are plenty of competitions to be contested before then. Hope he can keep up the good progress, if so he can look forward to a big summer of competition!