Irish men miss world rowing final

The Irish men's heavyweight four of Cormac Folan, Sean O'Neill, Sean Casey and Alan Martin missed out on qualification for the final at the Rowing World Championships in Eton this afternoon, finishing fifth in a hotly-contested semi-final, which was won by the high-profile British crew.

The Irish quartet will contest the B final at 10.34am on Saturday morning for places seven to 12 at these championships.

Ireland finished 10th overall at last year's event, so they will be targeting an improved placing on Saturday.

Tim Harnedy and Richard Coakley finished second in their lightweight double schulls semi-final behind China, meaning they advance to the D final tomorrow afternoon for places 19 to 24.

Dubliner Sean Jacob lines up in the C final of the heavyweight single schulls at 3.18pm this afternoon for places 12-18.