A round-up of today's other stories in brief
St Kieran's book final place again
HURLING:Reigning champions St Kieran's must improve significantly to defeat Harty Cup holders Ardscoil Rís in the All-Ireland Colleges SHC 'A' final for a second successive year.
That was the verdict of St Kieran’s joint-manager Philip Walsh following last Saturday’s comfortable 3-10 to 0-7 semi-final victory against Harty Cup runners-up Charleville CBS at Sean Treacy Park, Tipperary. In the Harty final, Ardscoil Rís defeated the Cork outfit by 25 points while St Kieran’s had 12 points to spare against Charleville in Tipperary.
St Kieran’s didn’t show top form but the Kilkenny kingpins didn’t have to against a Charleville side lining out from the start with damage limitation in mind. Walsh said: “Semi-finals are always difficult. The main thing is to get over them and get into the final. We know we still have a lot of improving to do and that’s a good way to be.”
On April 2nd, St Kieran’s will look to retain the Croke Cup against Limerick’s Ardscoil Rís.
Djokovic world number two
TENNIS:Novak Djokovic extended his perfect record this season to 17-0 with a thrilling 6-3 3-6 6-2 victory over three-times champion Roger Federer on Saturday to reach the Indian Wells final.
Djokovic, who will replace Swiss Federer as world number two when the new rankings are issued today, broke his opponent three times in a third set of brilliant shot-making to triumph in just over two hours.
Vitali Klitschko has easy defence
BOXING:Vitali Klitschko defended his WBC heavyweight championship with a first-round knockout of Odlanier Solis in Cologne. Cuban challenger Solis appeared to have matched his Ukrainian opponent for much of the three minutes, but was caught on the temple by a right hand and staggered to the ground.
He clutched at his right knee as soon as he landed and, though he tried to scramble back to his feet using the ropes for support, referee Jose Guadalupe Garcia stopped the fight. Klitschko appeared angry at his opponent’s withdrawal, ready for more of a challenge, and the crowd also jeered but it quickly became apparent that Solis was struggling badly with a leg injury suffered as he fell. The defeat is the first of Solis’s career after 17 successive wins, 12 by knockout. For 39-year-old Klitschko, it was a 42nd win and a 39th KO in a 44-fight career.
Magee stopped in 10th by Bute
BOXING:Lucian Bute stopped Northern Ireland's Brian Magee in the 10th round to retain his IBF super-middleweight title in Montreal on Saturday night.
The 31-year-old Bute, born in Romania and based in Montreal, had already knocked down the Ulsterman in the sixth and seventh rounds and finished him off with an uppercut to the chin at 2:04 of the 10th round.
Bute’s victory in the battle of the southpaws secured a seventh successful defence of the belt he won in 2007 and improved his record to 28-0, 23KOs.
For Magee, it was only the second time in his career he had failed to go the distance. After a fairly even first five rounds, Bute raised his game and put Magee down with a quick left to the stomach.
The knockout punch came with a blow to the head in the 10th, sending Magee to his knees again and forcing Chicago referee Pete Podgorski to stop the fight.
India beat West Indies by 80 runs
CRICKET:Yuvraj Singhs all-round performance set up India's 80-run victory over West Indies in the final World Cup Group B match yesterday. Chasing 269 for victory, opener Devon Smith's cultured 81 kept West Indies in the hunt but once Zaheer Khan bowled him the twice champions lost their last eight wickets for 34 runs to collapse for 188 in 43 overs.
The result set up a mouth-watering quarter-final showdown between co-hosts India and four-times champions Australia in Ahmedabad while Indies take on Group A winners Pakistan in Dhaka.
“I knew it was very important for the team to get the wicket (of Smith) and it was very important for the team to defend a decent total which we did today as a bowling unit and I’m sure we are going to go into the quarter-finals upbeat and confident,” said Zaheer, who picked up 3-26.
QUARTER-FINALS:Pakistan v West Indies, Dhaka, Bangladesh - March 23rd (08.30); Australia v India, Ahmedabad, India - March 24th (09.00); New Zealand v South Africa, Dhaka - March 25th (08.30) Sri Lanka v England, Colombo, Sri Lanka - March 26th (09.00).
Britton makes up ground to finish 16th in Spain
ATHLETICS:Fionnuala Britton produced one of the best European finishes at yesterday's World Cross Country championships in Punta Umbria in Spain, writes Ian O'Riordan. Against the backdrop of the expected Kenyan-Ethiopian domination, Britton posted 16th in the senior women's race – the best placing for an Irish runner since her own 14th place finish in the same race four years ago.
Britton got a little left behind in the opening laps, and running mostly alone chased down hard on the leaders – with victory in the end going to the 27-year-old Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya, getting the better of her team-mate Linet Masai, in 24:58 with Sharlane Flanagan of the USA third. Britton was the second European home.
Ava Hutchinson of Dundrum was the only the Irish senior entrant and ended up in 87th position – but there was disappointment for Shane Quinn in the junior men’s race where the ferocious early pace forced him to drop out. Once more the Africans dominated all four championship races, winning 22 of the 24 medals at stake.
Alistair Cragg, meanwhile, gave his career a timely boost by setting a new Irish record for the half marathon when finishing sixth in a high-profile event through the streets of New York. Cragg’s time of 60 minutes 49 seconds knocked eight seconds off the old mark of 60:57 set two years ago in Holland by Martin Fagan of Mullingar, as well as being a personal best by more than a full minute.
