Emma Finucane Leads More Welsh Success This Weekend



Harry Corish - Sportin Journalist

Cycling

Emma Finucane is certainly one to watch, as she continued her fine form this weekend by beating Great Britain Teammate Sophie Capwell in straight sets to win gold in the women’s sprint finals at the UCI Track Nations Cup.

The 20-year-old knocked out six-time world champion, Emma Hinze in the semi-final before beating Capwell 2-0 in the final in Cairo.

Carmarthen born Finucane continued her fine start to her career, winning gold in Egypt this weekend, having won bronze at the Commonwealth Games in the summer for Wales and having picked up four gold medals at the British National Track Championships in January.

In Squash

Joel Makin impressed at the 2023 Canary Wharf Classic, despite falling just short against his nemesis, Paul Coll, in the final.

The Welshman booked a quarter final spot having beaten the World number two Diego Elias 3-0 (12-10; 11-6; 11-6). Makin then beat world number one Mostafa Asal 3-2 (12-10; 10-12; 3-11; 11-3; 11-8) to reach the final against New Zealander Coll, a repeat of the 2022 Commonwealth Games men’s final.

The 28-year-old Welshman had beaten Coll in the second round of the Black Ball Squash Open in Cairo a fortnight ago, but it wasn’t to be this this time around for Makin, who fell to a 3-1 (7-11; 11-6; 11-4; 11-4) loss despite making an excellent start to the final.

Boxing

Liam Jones continued his excellent start of his professional boxing career, as he defeated Berman Sanchez, an experienced boxer from Nicaragua, in Wigan last night.

While Swansea’s Chris Jenkins (23-7-3), the other Welsh boxer in action last night, fell to a defeat while contesting for the IBO Continental Welterweight championship against Cyrus Pattinson (6-0), in a fight for the ages in Newcastle’s Utilita Arena.

It was war from the opening bell between the two British boxers, but Jenkins eventually succumbed to a tenth-round stoppage defeat to the Northumberland boxer.

UFC

Wales’ Jack Shore (17-1-0) announced himself in his UFC Featherweight debut, providing quite the statement, with a second-round win against Makwan Amirkhani (17-9-0), forcing the Finnish fighter to submit with a rear-naked choke.

Ice Hockey

Cardiff Devils fell to a 3-1 defeat against Belfast Giants in day one of their Weekend double-header Northern Ireland. Before picking up a 5-4 in overtime, following an exciting second game in Belfast. The results see Cardiff Devils sitting in fourth spot it the Elite Hockey League, seven points behind the Giants.

The Welsh side found themselves quickly 2-0 down in the first game, with both goals coming from Scott Conway and Mark Cooper within a minute of each other.

It was 3-0 to the Giants just before the 40-minute mark, as Conway grabbed his second goal on the night. Cole Sanford scored a late consolation goal, but the devils left the SSE Arena empty handed on night one.

The Devils got their revenge over the Giants in game two, winning 5-4 in overtime. Cardiff took a 3-1 lead early on, goals from Jardine, Waller and Crandell put the visitors in an exceptional poition, while McLeod responded for the Giants.

Steve Owre put the Giants back within 1 goal just after the half hour mark before Mark Cooper levelled things up for the hosts. Jake Coughler and Scott Conway traded goals for both teams before Sanford came up trumps in overtime to win it for Cardiff.

Mexico Rally

It was heartbreak for Wales’ Elfyn Evans in the Mexico Rally, as he fell just 0.4 seconds from second place in his final run. Evans had enjoyed an excellent weekend in Guanajuato, heading into the final day in second place.

But technical issues made things difficult during Evans’ final run, as he was forced to settle for third place in Mexico.