Sports Digest:The Boston Celtics held off a late rally from the Orlando Magic to win the first game of the Eastern Conference finals late on Sunday night, 92-88.
The Celtics managed just four points in the last five and a half minutes, but that was good enough after the home side had scored only 14 points in the first 16 minutes. Paul Pierce scored 22 points and Ray Allen 25.
Niland to face British number two
TENNIS:Ireland's Conor Niland has been drawn against Britain's Alex Bogdanovic in the first round of the French Open qualifying today.
At 161 in the world rankings, left-hander Bogdanovic is the second-placed Briton behind Andy Murray, and that puts him four places ahead of the number one, who moved to his career-high mark of 165 following his winning of the Israel Open title nine days ago.
Yugoslav-born Bogdanovic, who moved with his family to London when he was eight, is likely to prove a formidable opponent for Niland.
Team named for World Cup regatta
ROWING:The Ireland team for the first World Cup regatta in Bled in Slovenia in 10 days' time reflects the strong showing of the under-23 group at the Wedau international regatta in Duisburg at the weekend, writes Liam Gorman.
The standout performances in Duisburg came in the under-23 lightweight double sculls, and two men’s lightweight double sculls (both under-23 crews) and three women’s lightweight doubles will wear green in Bled. They’ll be joined by lightweight single sculler Cathal Moynihan and two adaptive crews.
The under-23 lightweight men’s doubles matched some of the world’s best in Duisburg at their level. Niall Kenny teamed up with Michael Maher of Commercial to finish third on Saturday, and on Sunday the combination of Kenny, (NUIG) and Justin Ryan (UCC) finished second to Germany, with Italy, France and Greece well back.
The Italy double were bronze medallists at last year’s World Under-23 Championships.
Goss third Australian to claim Giro d’Italia stage
CYCLING:HTC Columbia rider Matt Goss took the third Australian victory in four days at the Giro d'Italia yesterday, winning a bunch sprint into Cava de'Tirreni after a rain-soaked day in the saddle, writes Shane Stokes.
The 23-year-old timed his finishing move perfectly and got the better of Filippo Pozzato (Team Katusha), Tyler Farrar (Garmin — Transitions) and 57 others in the uphill rise to the line.
Irish rider Daniel Martin (Garmin Transitions) had another tough day and finished seven minutes 36 seconds back in 163rd place.
Overnight race leader Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) caused panic amongst the other race contenders when he and several other riders got clear inside the final hour of racing. The move was ultimately brought back, and all the top-placed riders finished together.
Vinokourov and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) remain first and second overall. The race continues today with another mainly flat stage – 230km from Avellino to Bitonto.
Across the Atlantic, Martin’s fellow Irish pro headed into the second stage of the Tour of California 10 seconds behind the stage one victor Mark Cavendish (HTC Columbia).
