Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle have won bronze for Ireland in the double sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade.
Favourites Melvin Twellaar and Stefan Broenink of the Netherlands set the early pace in the A final and were narrowly ahead at 500m, with Ireland sixth.
But Clonmel native Lynch and Banbridge man Doyle were in touch and remained within a length of the medals at halfway as the Dutch started to pull clear.
The Irish pair had moved up to third by 1500m and were in a battle with second-placed Croatia and Italy for silver and bronze.
Ireland fnished strongly, less than a second behind Croatia in 6:13.41, and over two seconds ahead of Italy, as the Dutch coasted to gold in 6:12.44.
Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch timed their surge perfectly to claim bronze in the men's double sculls and secure yet another World Rowing Championship medal for Ireland in Belgrade #WorldRowingChamps pic.twitter.com/D997L65hI5
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 10, 2023
Speaking to RTÉ Sport's David Gillick after the race, Lynch said they had felt confident about claiming a medal.
"Nine hundred metres in, I was like, 'I'm feeling way too good to be where we are,'" he said.
"I think mentally, before that race we already nearly had the medal won, so it was more relief that we actually got the medals."
Having already qualified for the Olympics, Doyle said that they had met the targets they set themselves for this year.
"We had three tick boxes for the season. One was Olympic qualifications, the second was the A final and the third was a medal," he said.
"So we ticked all three. And we're only a new partnership so it's only to get better from here."
Amid a medal laden World Championships for Irish competitors in Belgrade, Doyle credited the support structures and internal competition underpinning the continued success of rowers from the island.
"It's the programme. Everyone trains so fiercely against each other. The men's pair yesterday, I mean was the main reason why [we won a medal]," he said in reference to Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney who won bronze on Saturday's men's pair final.
"We weren't coming home with anything less than they got. So we said last night, if they got one, we had to get one."
Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin were fourth in their double sculls A final.
The Irish women are a new combination, having only teamed up in recent weeks. Hyde won bronze with Sanita Puspure at the 2022 World Championships and Bergin won World U23 silver in single sculls in July.
Reigning Olympic and world champions Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis hit the front from the start and had a five-metre lead over Lithuania at 500, with France third and Ireland fifth.
By halfway, Ireland were a close fourth as Romania put daylight between them and the field and Lithuania led New Zealand by less than a length.
Romania and Lithuania looked to have the gold and silver locked down after 1500m as the USA made a surge into third.
Ireland pushed hard but had to settle for fourth in 6:52.21 as the Lithuanians just held off the Americans for silver, Romania winning in 6:46.94
