IRELAND’S PAUL O’DONOVAN and Fintan McCarthy completed a magnificent world championship hat-trick as they retained their lightweight men’s double sculls title in Belgrade on Saturday afternoon.

The Skibbereen duo finished with their trademark surge in the final 500 metres to pass Switzerland’s Jan Schaeuble and Raphael Ahumada Ireland and pull clear to win.

Italy’s Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares finished third to take bronze.

The win cements O’Donovan and McCarthy’s standing as the kings of the lightweight double sculls, as they remain the boat to beat in Paris next year where they will be bidding to retain their Olympic title.

Their gold is Ireland’s second at these World Championships following Galway’s Siobhán McCrohan who was crowned world champion in the lightweight women’s sculls on Friday.

There was further medal joy for Ireland earlier on Saturday as Enniskillen duo Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan won bronze in the men’s pair, capping a brilliant debut world championships as a duo.

In the final of the women’s pair, Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh were eased out of the medals as they finished fourth behind Netherlands, Australia and Romania.

Steven McGowan and Katie O’Brien finished fifth in the A final of the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls.