A round-up of other sports stories in brief
O'Rourke finishes seventh in Zurich
ATHLETICS: Derval O’Rourke hit the Diamond League circuit in Zurich last night for the first time since her European Championship silver medal, but only finished seventh of the nine starters over the 100-metre hurdles, clocking 13.00 seconds flat, writes Ian O’Riordan.
Zurich has a tradition of bringing together the very best, and last night was no exception, as powerful Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep won in 12.53, a meeting record for the famous old Letzigrund Stadium.
Yet, O’Rourke was just half a stride down on Nevin Yanit, the Turkish athlete who struck gold ahead of her at the Europeans in Barcelona, who finished sixth in 12.94, while the German Carolin Nytra finished second in 12.69.
David Gillick also lined up against the best 400-metre field of the year, and drawn in lane eight, he took a bit of a chance by starting out exceptionally quick. He faded to eighth in 46.05 seconds. Two-time world champion Jeremy Wariner (US) won in 44.13 seconds – the fastest time in the world this year.
Defeat narrows Ireland's options
HOCKEY: A 3-0 defeat to Argentina at the Youth Olympics in Singapore yesterday leaves the Irish under-17 team needing to win their final two pool matches, against Korea (today) and South Africa (Sunday), if their hopes of competing for bronze on Tuesday are to remain alive, writes Mary Hannigan.
Goalkeeper Jenna Holmes helped keep Argentina at bay for the opening 25 minutes of yesterday’s game, but Agustina Alvarez finally found a way through when she turned home the rebound from a penalty corner. Argentina made it 2-0 – from another corner – after the break before a goal in the final minute made it three.
In Belfield last night, Ireland’s men’s team lost 4-2 to Malaysia in their second test match – with Alan Giles and Alan Sothern scoring for the home side.
Clemens charged with perjury
BASEBALL: Baseball great Roger Clemens, one of the best pitchers in the sport’s history, was indicted yesterday on a series of charges related to lying to the US Congress about using performance-enhancing drugs.
Clemens, 48 and now living in Houston, was charged with one count of obstruction of the US Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury, according to the indictment filed in US District Court for the District of Columbia.
If convicted on all charges, he could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.
However, federal sentencing guidelines suggest a penalty of 15 to 21 months if convicted. A lawyer for Clemens, Rusty Hardin, was not immediately available for comment.
Cluskey and O'Brien into final
TENNIS: Ireland’s James Cluskey and Colin O’Brien reeled off two victories yesterday to clinch a place in the doubles final of the ITF Men’s Futures event in Jurmala, Latvia.
After receiving a bye in the opening round, the top-seeded Dublin duo recorded a 6-1 4-6 10-6 win over Australia’s Allen Perel and Latvia’s Kristanis Stabinis in the quarter-finals.
Cluskey and O’Brien booked their place in the decider after Swedish opponents Markus Eriksson and Milos Sekulic retired when trailing 2-5 in the first set.
Today, the Irish pair face unseeded Czech duo Jakub Lustyk and David Novak. O’Brien also advanced to the quarter-final of the singles thanks to a 7-6 (8/6) 6-3 win over German Maik Burlage.
