Sports Digest: A round up of other sports news
CYCLING: Ciarán Kelly recorded a fine result in the junior Opwijk event in Belgium yesterday, finishing fourth in the 90km race, writes Shane Stokes.
The Usher IRC rider, currently competing as part of the Team Ireland set up, went clear in a break of 12 riders after three of the 12 laps were completed. He attacked with 20 kilometres remaining and, while he was brought back, pressed on with three others to take what was a solid result.
Kelly also competed in the junior event the day before in Oetingen. He was similarly aggressive there, riding the whole race in a break of five riders before losing contact on the final laps due to cramps brought on by icy conditions.
Meanwhile, Paídi O'Brien had less luck in the Beverbeek classic Hamont-Achel on Saturday. He crashed with 15km to go in the 1.2-ranked continental race, breaking his wheel.
SWIMMING: Curiosity reigns in Irish swimning circles - not least among Irish Sports Council chiefs who hold the purse strings - ahead of the imminent appointment of Swim Ireland's director of swimming, writes Pat Roche.
The one thing that is abundantly clear so far is that the Swimming Association is aiming sky high to secure their man or woman for the new high profile and lucrative full-time position.
It has been confirmed that yet another celebrated exponent of the sport in twice Olympian Kevin Williamson has been ruled out before the interview stage. This latest rejection follows the even more alarming failure to grant an interview to European and Olympic 200 metres breaststroke medalist Nick Gillingham. The amount of applications for the job has "exceeded all expectations ".
It's all very interesting for one would have to travel some distance to find more knowledgable swimming guru's than Gillingham and Williamson.
Meanwhile, the senior members of the Irish team to compete at the schools' international in Wales on 19th-20th of March are: Girls - Melanie Nocher (Strathearn); Ciara Farrell (Ard Scoil Mhuire); Ciara Kelleher (St Peters CS); Anne Marie Fenton (Manor House) and Clare Dawson O'Sullivan Upper). Boys - Seán Redmond (Maynooth); John Waterworth (RBAI); David Matthews, Owen Noland, and Stephen Cunningham (Terenure College); Conor Hughes (St Mary's CBS); William Gilmer and Stephen Cunningham (Scoil Iosa).
TENNIS: US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was stunned 6-4 6-2 by 18-year-old Indian Sania Mirza in the second round of the Dubai Open yesterday.
Mirza is attaining film star status in her homeland after becoming the first Indian woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam in Melbourne last month. She was also the first Indian to win a WTA Tour event, in Hyderabad. Seventh seed Nathalie Dechy of France struggled before edging past Russian qualifier Vera Douchevina 6-7 6-4 7-6, and Na Li of China beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama 1-6 7-6 6-2.
