The Irish men's heavyweight four of Alan Martin, Sean Casey, Cormac Folan and Sean O'Neill performed superbly in their semi-final of the Rowing World Cup in Amsterdam yesterday to claim to a place in today's A final (top six).

The Irish held off the German team to finish behind New Zealand and France and claim their spot in the final (2.30pm Irish time), which will also feature the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

The women's lightweight double of Sinead Jennings and Niamh Ni Cheilleachair missed out on a place in their A final when they finished 5th in their semi-final. Joining the heavy four in the A finals will be Derry's Orla Duddy in the nonOlympic lightweight single scull.

MURRAY SET TO PLAY THROUGH PAIN BARRIER

Andy Murray yesterday revealed he is "planning to play" at Wimbledon despite still feeling pain from the wrist injury which has sidelined him for five weeks.

Murray has not played since suffering a micro-tear in a wrist tendon in the Hamburg Masters on May 15, on his 20th birthday.

The British number one is due to face Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti in the first round at the All England Club, but will not make a decision until after his practice session today but Murray is confident it will not be a gamble if he decides to play.

"I've been playing some sets the last few days and haven't had any bad reactions on my wrist, " said Murray. "Wimbledon was my goal to get ready for. If I don't feel I'm fit enough to play and give 100pc then I won't play. I'm not going to stress about it. If my wrist isn't right, it's not right. I put in a lot of hard work the last five and a half, six weeks to try and get it ready. I wouldn't want to waste all that work by going out and doing something stupid."

I'LL NEVER GO WITHOUT A FIGHT, VOWS WILLIAMS

Serena Williams has come to terms with her French Open nightmare by vowing she will never again exit a tournament "without a fight".

Williams was left seething by her capitulation to Justine Henin in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros earlier this month, allowing the eventual winner to register a simple 6-4 6-3 victory.

Since then she has engaged in a period of soul-searching and the 25year-old is now confident she will enter Wimbledon, which begins tomorrow, a more resilient player.

"I've thought about that performance a lot. Maybe I was a bit crazy in that game, " she said. "I haven't really been able to come to a conclusion as to why I played not only so flatly, but so horrendously, outrageously, absurdly. It was one of the worst matches I've ever played and it's not going to happen again. In future I won't go out without a fight.

If I do go out, it's going to be with a punch and a bang."

WARNOCK'S WILLING TO WAIT FOR THE RIGHT JOB

Former Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock is prepared to wait for the right opportunity before returning to the game.

Warnock stepped down as Blades boss after his side was relegated from the Premier League last month. The 58-yearold still has ambitions to manage at the top level but is not concerned about not having found a new position yet.

Warnock said: "I believe I can do a good job. It's just one of those things, somewhere there will be a chairman and a group of fans that want a manager like myself. I am looking forward to the next challenge and my seventh promotion now. It was difficult being a fan and manager of a club. Next time I'll be the manager without being a fan and it's an exciting time for me."

DONATI AGREES A FOUR YEAR DEAL WITH CELTIC

Celtic have completed the signing of Massimo Donati from AC Milan. The midfielder (26) has agreed a fouryear deal with the Scottish champions in a move reported to be worth in the region of �3million.

Donati will undergo a medical in Glasgow next week, having jetted into the UK earlier in the week to thrash out the move to Parkhead.

Donati is Celtic manager Gordon Strachan's fourth summer signing, as the Hoops aim for their third successive title. Scott Brown joined from Hibernian in a �4.4million switch, while Motherwell and Hibs strikers Scott McDonald and Chris Killen were snapped up for free.

Donati began his career at Atalanta before a �10million deal took him to the San Siro in 2001. He spent last year on loan back at Atalanta. Celtic have reportedly beaten off strong competition from Palermo, Sampdoria and Atalanta for the signature of Donati and his capture is seen as a coup for the Glasgow giants.

MACARTHUR FASTEST AROUND ISLE OF WIGHT

Ellen MacArthur added to her illustrious achievements by winning the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.

MacArthur, skippering JP Morgan Asset Management, overtook last year's winners ICAP Leopard in the closing stages to finish the 55-mile course in just over four hours.

Nearly 1,800 took part in the race around the Isle of Wight, including the likes of double Olympic champion Shirley Robertson and Robin KnoxJohnston. ABN AMRO eventually crossed the finishing line 50 seconds behind MacArthur for second place with Leopard taking third spot.

LANGER BEMUSED BY LACK OF EURO MAJORS

BERNHARD LANGER can offer no magic formula to the European golfers still striving to emulate him as a major winner.

"Just play better, " said the 49year-old double Masters champion, as surprised as anybody by the eight-year barren spell. "I think we have the talent and I don't know the reasons why it hasn't happened yet for them. Majors de"ne your career and eventually you have to cope with the pressures - that's what separates the great from the good.

"Small things make a big difference and you constantly have to analyse how you are performing.

But I'm surprised nobody has come through yet because look how well they have played in the Ryder Cup."

Since Paul Lawrie's victory in the 1999 Open at Carnoustie - the course where they will all try again again next month - there have been 82 top 10 "nishes by 30 different European golfers in the four majors.

Not one of them a win, however.

Taking part in the BMW Invitational Open in Munich, Langer said: "I'm convinced that several of these guys in here will win majors.

It's just a matter of time. This is a very, very young group of golfers and they can all win majors."