Today's other stories in brief
Kuerten wins in Germany
EQUESTRIAN: Irish riders continued their good form in Europe yesterday with wins in the Grand Prix events at both Leipzig and Amsterdam, writes Margie McLoone.
In Germany, Jessica Kuerten was one of 16 competitors through to the jump-off round of the FEI World Cup qualifier with Castle Forbes Libertina. Drawn second-last, the Co Antrim-born rider took the first prize of €39,600 when breaking the beam in 40.52 seconds to beat Australia’s Edwina Alexander and Penelope Leprevost of France.
The victory sees Kurten move into second spot in the World Cup western European League standings.
Earlier yesterday, the 40-year-old finished fifth with API Largo in the 1.45m two-phase class, while, on Saturday, partnering Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois, she filled the runner-up slot in the 1.50m jump-off class behind The Netherlands’ Albert Zoer riding Sam.
At the four-star show in Amsterdam, Billy Twomey secured the leading rider title with success in yesterday’s Grand Prix on Sue Davies’s Je T’Aime Flamenco.
Greipel leads from start to finish
CYCLING:Germany's Andre Greipel sealed a second Tour Down Under victory in three years when he eased home in fifth place in yesterday's final stage.
Australia’s Chris Sutton won the final stage, 20 laps of a 4.5 kilometre street circuit in central Adelaide, to provide his British-based team Sky with their first stage win on cycling’s ProTour.
Greipel, who won the Tour Down Under in 2008, had led the six-day race from start to finish, winning three stages, including the first two.
Lance Armstrong, who was using the race as part of his ambitious plans to try to win an eighth Tour de France, finished 25th overall in his first outing with his new team Radioshack.
Indian bowlers take control
CRICKET: India pace bowler Ishant Sharma took four wickets to help reduce Bangladesh to 233 all out on the opening day of the second and final Test in Dhaka yesterday.
At the close, India were 69 without loss in reply with Virender Sehwag on 41 and Gautam Gambhir on 26.
Number eight batsman Mahmudullah smashed an unbeaten 96 to help Bangladesh recover from 127 for seven.
He was left stranded when off-spinner Harbhajan Singh ended Bangladesh’s resistance by bowling last batsman Rubel Hossain for four.
Mahmudullah struck 13 fours in his 156-ball innings and also received solid support from number 10 batsman Shafiul Islam (9), who shared 55 runs in a ninth-wicket stand before giving Rahul Dravid a catch at second slip off Ishant.
Ishant (4-66) and fellow seamer Zaheer Khan (3-62) had earlier dismantled Bangladesh’s batting line up.
India lead the series 1-0.
Featherweight title for Lopez
BOXING: Puerto Rico's Juan Manuel Lopez stopped American Steven Luevano in the seventh round to win the WBO featherweight title in New York on Saturday.
A hard right-left combination from the challenger knocked Luevano down, and the referee stopped the contest.
Lopez may defend his title against Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa, who floored Rogers Mtagwa three times in a second-round stoppage in the co-main event.
Cork Harlequins taste rare defeat
WOMEN'S HOCKEY: After over a decade of complete domination of the Munster League, Cork Harlequins look to have a battle on their hands to retain their title after the champions suffered a rare defeat on Saturday, writes Mary Hannigan.
Second-from-bottom Bandon registered their first win of the campaign at Farmer’s Cross, with Claire O’Higgins’ goal deciding the game.
Harlequins, then, stay fourth in the table, 10 points adrift of leaders UCC, but with three games in hand.
The students were held 2-2 by third-placed Church of Ireland on Saturday. The University of Limerick remain rooted to the bottom of the table, yet to pick up a point, after losing to Waterford.
Barry records first Irish junior win in Grand Slam
TENNIS: Following Louk Sorensen's success in the main draw of the Australian Open last week, the two Irish juniors (Under-18) competing there started their main draw programme yesterday with mixed results, writes Johnny Watterson.
Sam Barry from Limerick recorded another milestone in becoming the first Irish player to win a junior main draw match in Melbourne (other Irish players have won junior matches at Wimbledon).
Showing character, Barry came back from a set down, when he lost 7-4 on a tie-break in the opener, to defeat Russia’s Victor Baluda in three sets 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. He now meets Britain’s Oliver Golding. The winner of that match is likely to meet the fifth seed Liang-Chi Huang from Taipei in the next round.
John Morrissey from Dublin, who is ranked among the top 30 juniors in the world, was the other Irish competitor. But his tournament ended in two sets, as he fell to Germany’s Dominik Schulz 6-1, 6-1. Schulz is seeded eight.
“Sam’s win in the Australian Open is hugely significant for us,” said Des Allen, chief executive of Tennis Ireland. “He is the first player from the Academy to win a Grand Slam match and we have been working towards this day since we first opened the doors in 2005.
“To win his first match in his first Grand Slam is a huge achievement for Sam and his coaches, the Irish Sports Council and BNP Paribas, all of whom will take great satisfaction from this.”
