Snooker: Steve Davis justified the sponsor's decision to award him the final place in the last ever Masters line-up by defeating Joe Swail at Wembley yesterday. The six-times world champion set up a last 16 meeting with John Higgins thanks to a 6-4 victory over Ulsterman Swail.
Davis was never behind against Manchester-based Swail as he chalked up his first Wembley victory since defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 1998 quarter-finals.
O'Sullivan came within eight shots of compiling only the second maximum break in the 29-year history of Masters last night.
"The Rocket" would have been driving home in an £80,000 Honda sports car had he emulated the achievement of Canadian Kirk Stevens in 1984.
He still cued his way superbly to 112 in the second frame of his second-round 6-1 victory over Joe Perry before missing the last red into the green pocket.
Cycling: Tommy Evans took his best placing to date in the Telekom Malaysia Tour of Langkawi when he sprinted home an excellent sixth on yesterday's 172.9 kilometre stage into Tanah Merah. The Irish amateur finished in the same time as triple stage winner Luca Mendonca Paglierini of the Lampre team.
Evans is now 11th overall in the points standings. He remains 65th in the general classification, one minute and 33 seconds behind the Nathan O'Neill of the Saturn team.
Swimming: Irish champion, Andrew Bree is hopeful the injury he sustained in a fall last week will not disrupt his training programme to the extent that was earlier indicated.
Commonwealth Games finalist Bree, on scholarship in America, sustained sinew and bone damage to his right ankle in the fall. He has had to suspend his regular training programme for the present but may get back into the pool using arms only within the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, the Irish Schools' championships at the Grove Baths Belfast this weekend have attracted record entries.
And with places on the Ireland schools team to compete in the four nations championship in New Ross on March 22nd at stake records are bound to be trimmed.
Equestrian Sport: Dermott Lennon, who became Ireland's first ever world show jumping champion in Spain last September, has won The Irish Field award as leading show jumper of 2002. The 34-year-old from Loughbrickland, Co Down, scooped individual gold in the dramatic change-horse final at the world equestrian games in the sun-baked arena of Jerez to write his name in show jumping's record books, a little over three years after making his debut on the international circuit with the Touchdown mare Liscalgot.
But Lennon wasn't the only Irish medallist on the show jumping stage last year. Waterford rider Anthony Condon, who celebrated his 16th birthday last month, took individual bronze at the European pony championships and will be among the award winners at today's presentation lunch at the Kingswood Country House Hotel to collect his Irish Field trophy as leading young show jumper of the 2002 season.
The trophy for the leading dressage rider goes, for the third year in succession, to Anna Merveldt-Steffens. Jane O'Flynn takes the third of the senior trophies as leading event rider of 2002 and Elizabeth Power, has won the trophy for best young event rider of the year.
Yachting: British yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur's bid to shatter the round-the-world sailing record was held up by light winds yesterday.
Her maxi-catamaran Kingfisher II was lagging nine hours behind Frenchman Bruno Peyron's record of 64 days, eight hours, 37 minutes and 24 seconds set last May after hitting a patch of light and unstable winds. Frenchman Olivier de Kersauson, who left port on January 11th in his trimaran Geronimo has completed the first third of the race.
