A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Trump takes commanding lead
SNOOKER:Judd Trump marched towards a quarter-final place at the World Championship as he sped into an 11-5 lead against Martin Gould yesterday.
Trump believes he can claim the Crucible title this year and he offered more compelling evidence to support that confident view as Gould suffered in their second session. If there is any consolation for Gould, who slipped from 5-3 at the start of the session to within two frames of defeat, it comes in the fact that he knows an 11-5 lead is not necessarily a winning one.
He too led by that margin at the last-16 stage last year, but Neil Robertson fought back to win 13-12.
The 29-year-old from Pinner in north-west London will return for this morning’s final session with a glimmer of hope, but Trump should not crumble as Gould did last year.
Trump had a break of 108 in the second frame of the afternoon, but Gould managed to cut his lead to 6-5 with runs of 76 and 72.
Nadal beats Monfils to reach last four
TENNIS:World number one Rafael Nadal crushed Gael Monfils of France 6-2 6-2 to ease into the Barcelona Open semi-finals yesterday.
The Spaniard is chasing a sixth title in seven years in the Catalan capital and after a rain-delayed start, he raced into a first-set lead with his brutal forehands helping secure two breaks of serve.
Nadal, whose electric yellow shirt contrasted sharply with the dull conditions, broke the seventh seed again early in the second, helped by a wonderful angled drop shot as the two exchanged blows at the net.
“To win 6-2 6-2 is a very positive result and was much better than I expected. Im very pleased,” Nadal said. “I won in Monte Carlo last week and now to be in the semi-finals in Barcelona is super positive, I couldn’t have started the clay season any better. Now I have to keep on working.”
Malinga quits Tests over knee injury
CRICKET:Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga, whose unique slinging round-arm action brought him 101 wickets in 30 Tests, retired from Test cricket yesterday in order to prolong his limited overs career.
Malinga (27) who is currently playing for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), said he was fit to play one-day cricket but needed to carefully manage a “long-standing degenerative condition in my right knee”. He had made himself unavailable for Sri Lanka’s forthcoming tour of England which prompted his board to ask him to return from the IPL to undergo rehabilitation.
In a statement Malinga said he had sustained a chronic knee injury in Australia in February, 2008, which prevented him from playing one-day cricket for 16 months.I have since been advised by the national team physiotherapist and my orthopaedic consultant that my condition will deteriorate when fielding or bowling for prolonged periods”, he said.
Power best of Irish after first session at Badminton
EQUESTRIAN: Co Meath's Elizabeth Power is best of the Irish following yesterday's first session of dressage at the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials, writes Margie McLoone.
Riding Dermot O’Rourke’s 13-year-old thoroughbred gelding Kilpatrick River, Power, who is based in Wiltshire for the season, was in 10th place overnight having received a penalty score of 47.7. Co Kildare’s Aoife Clark, now living in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, occupies 24th position having scored 57.2 with the New Zealand thoroughbred Vaguely North which she competes for Henrietta, Duchess of Bedford.
Cork’s Michael Ryan riding John Butler’s veteran Puissance gelding Old Road was 36th at the close of action yesterday on 65.7 while Leicestershire-based Mark Kyle props up the table of 36 competitors on 74.8 with Step In Time, owned by his parents John and Gillian.
The leader after yesterday’s first session was 21-year-old British rider Laura Collett who, making her Badminton debut, scored 36.5 penalties with Rayef. She is followed by Marina Kohncke of Germany on Calma Schelly (39.8) with Italy’s Susanna Bordone filling third place on Carrera (43.0).The cross-country phase of the event is on tomorrow, starting at noon, with the concluding show jumping phase on Monday. On its red button service, BBC will cover all the cross-country action and on Monday will show highlights from the second phase and live show jumping from 1.00pm on BBC 2.
Sri Lanka first up for Irish women
CRICKET:A young and inexperienced Ireland women's team get their season underway in Colombo this morning when they take on Sri Lanka in the opening game of a 50-over Quadrangular tournament that also involves Pakistan and the Netherlands, writes Emmet Riordan.
Ireland regulars such as the Joyce and Whelan sisters, Emma Beamish and Nikki Symmons miss the trip that pits the teams ranked seventh to 10th in the ICC list, with Ireland presently in ninth spot.
In their place are some exciting talents in a squad whose average age is less than 21. Included in the 13 are six teenagers, including two 14-year-olds in Pembroke’s hugely talented all-rounder Kim Garth and Merrion’s Julie van der Flier, who came in at the last minute after Mary Waldron was ruled out with an ankle injury.
Pembroke’s Ciara Metcalfe captains the side and will look to players such as Clare Shillington and Eimear Richardson to bring their experience to bear.
Valjavec banned for two years
CYCLING: Slovenian rider Tadej Valjavec has been banned for two years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled yesterday that his biological passport showed he had manipulated his blood. Biological passports were introduced in 2008 to track any blood changes in riders against an original profile.
Last month CAS overruled the Italian National Committee’s decision to clear Franco Pellizotti in a similar case.
