Paul O'Donovan & Dintan McCarthy ease into World Rowing Championships quarter-finals

Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy eased into the lightweight men's double sculls quarter-finals at the World Rowing Championships on Sunday morning.

The Irish pair are defending their crown in Belgrade having prevailed on the waters of Racice, Czech Republic, 12 months ago.

They won their heat in 6:15.40 ahead of New Zealand [6:19.65], Ukraine [6:27.67] and Estonia [6:30.98]. O'Donovan and McCarthy will be back in action on Wednesday.

Jake McCarthy took fifth in the lightweight men's single sculls, which means he will head for the repechage on Monday afternoon when he'll get another opportunity to make the quarters.

Siobhán McCrohan is into the the A/B semi-finals of the lightweight women’s single sculls on Tuesday after finishing second in her heat.

Men's pair Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney took second in their heat to make Wednesday's quarter-finals, while Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle will compete in the men’s double sculls on the same day thanks to a second-place finish.