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Rhys McClenaghan has not progressed to the pommel horse final at the European Championships in Munich despite performing well in qualification.

The Newtownards gymnast scored 14.200 on Thursday morning but that did not prove enough to make the top eight.

The 23-year-old picked up European gold in Glasgow four years ago.

McClenaghan won a silver medal at the recent Birmingham Commonwealth Games with a better score of 14.133.

Ewan McAteer scored 13.866 in the vault - his team mate Dominick Cunningham scored 14.166. Both must wait to see if they have done enough to qualify.

Eamonn Montgomery will not make the final after his floor routine - 12.833 - was down on his scores at the Commonwealth Games.

In the team competition Ireland finished with a total score of 234.293, behind Israel and Bulgaria, and unlikely to finish in the top eight that will qualify for final.

Meanwhile in the European Athletics Championships, Letterkenny's Mark English put in a commanding performance to win his 800m heat and book a place in Friday night's semi-finals.

The 2014 European bronze medallist clocked a winning time of 1:47.54 to win his heat and progress 10th fastest of the 16 qualifiers.

A season's best was not enough for Thomas Barr to book his passage to the 400m hurdles final.

The 30-year-old finished third in his semi-final in 49.30 but failed to secure one of the two fastest non-automatic qualifier berths.

Louise Shanahan secured automatic qualification to the women's 800m semi-finals with a third-place finish in her heat in a time of 2:02.80.

Michelle Finn also advanced to the final of the 3000m steeplechase.