Franklin Pierce 
World University Games Update 
Hughes, Hislop help Ireland win Group A, face China in quarterfinal round Tuesday
Sadler and Great Britain basketball head to classification round beginning Tuesday

IZMIR, Turkey (August 15, 2005) – The three Franklin Pierce student-athletes participating at the 23^rd World University Games will begin the next stage of their competitions on Tuesday.

            Women’s Soccer All-Americans Sonya Hughes (Balbriggan, Ireland) and Laura Hislop (Belfast, Northern Ireland) both played a significant role in the Republic of Ireland finishing pool play at the top of the Group A standings with yesterday’s 3-0 win over New Zealand. While Hislop did not play in the match, Hughes started and played 78 minutes before being substituted after her side’s third goal. Ireland posted a 2-0-1 mark in pool play for a total of seven points to lead Chinese Taipei (4 pts), New Zealand (3 pts) and host Turkey (3 pts).

            Ireland advances to the quarterfinal round where it will face China tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. (EDT). The winner of that match will face the winner between Group C winner Finland and Group B runner-up France in a medal round match, while the losers of those two matches will meet in a classification round match on Thursday. China posted a 1-1-1 mark for four points in a tough Group C that also featured quarterfinalists Finland (7 pts) and Brazil (6 pts).             

Tom Sadler (London, England/Farmington (N.H.) HS) has played in two of Great Britain’s three games during the preliminary round phase of the men’s basketball tournament. In Saturday’s 80-72 loss to Australia, Sadler was 0-for-2 from the field, including 0-1 from three-point range. Yesterday, Sadler totaled a rebound and blocked shot in an 87-68 victory over Lebanon.

            Great Britain, who finished third in Group G with a 1-2 record, will next face Estonia tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. (EDT). Estonia finished fourth in Group H, going winless in matches with Ukraine, Greece and Mexico.

The University Games, held every two years, are open to athletes between the ages of 18 and 27 who are still studying or have graduated within 12 months of the event.