A round-up of other sports news
Grinham too strong for Perry in British Open final
SQUASH: Number two seed Rachael Grinham proved too strong for Ireland’s Madeline Perry in the final of the British Open in Manchester last night, the Australian winning the match in straight games after 39 minutes on court, writes Mary Hannigan.
Grinham took the first two sets with relative ease, 11-6, 11-5, before Perry, seeded five, pushed her all the way in the third (12-10).
The defeat brought to an end an extraordinary week for Perry, the highlight being her victory over world number one Nicol David in the quarter-finals, a result and performance she described as the best of her career.
It was only the second loss in two years for the Malaysian who had beaten Perry in their previous 14 meetings and has been the world’s top ranked player since 2005.
Perry, the 32-year-old 10-time Irish champion from Banbridge, fought back from two sets and match balls down to beat David and showed similar resilience in the semi-finals when she recovered from losing the first game to England’s Alison Waters (the world number five) to win in four, clinching her place in the final.
Perry has fought back to regain her place in the top 10 of the world rankings after suffering a brain injury following a mugging in Milan two years ago. She is now up to eight in the list, but reaching the final of the British Open should see her close in on a place in the top five when the updated rankings are released next month.
Favre makes a winning start
NFL: Adrian Peterson ran for three touchdowns to help veteran quarterback Brett Favre make a winning start for the Minnesota Vikings with a 34-20 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Favre, who signed with the Vikings last month to end a second retirement, threw for one touchdown and 110 yards to launch his 19th NFL season.
His six-yard TD pass to Percy Harvin with a minute to play in the third quarter helped secure the opening-day win.
“I was pretty excited,” the NFL’s all-time leading passer said after the touchdown pass, the 464th of his career.
“Had we scored running the ball, I would have been equally excited,” said Favre, who will turn 40 next month. “But that one ranks up there near the top as well.”
Favre connected on 14 of 21 attempts with no interceptions and played into the fourth quarter. He was sacked four times and most of his passes were for short gains.
Obama's wife to lobby for Chicago
OLYMPIC GAMES: US President Barack Obama is sending his wife Michelle to Copenhagen next month to urge Olympics organisers to select Chicago to host the 2016 Games.
The White House said Obama informed International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge on Friday he had to stay in the United States to push his campaign for health reform.
But Obama, an enthusiastic supporter of his home towns campaign to stage the Games, promised to keep working to support the bid with his wife and his senior advisor Valerie Jarrett.
Mrs Obama and Jarrett will join US organisers at the IOC meeting in Copenhagen on October 2nd, when the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics will be chosen from the four candidate cities – Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. “It is with great pride that I will go to Copenhagen to make the case for the United States,” Michelle Obama said.
Boom shows his versatility in Spain
CYCLING: Dropping his 12-breakaway companions on the final climb of the stage to Cordoba, Dutchman Lars Boom (Rabobank) soloed to victory on yesterday’s 15th stage of the Vuelta a España, writes Shane Stokes.
The former world cyclo-cross and under-23 time-trial champion was part of a long-distance move that went clear early on in the lumpy stage from Jaén. His attack on the second category San Jeronimo climb saw him eventually reach the finish in Cordoba one minute and 36 seconds clear of Spanish rider David Herrero and a further eight ahead of German Dominik Roels.
The main bunch came home 25 minutes later. Both Philip Deignan (Cervélo Test Team) and Daniel Martin (Garmin Slipstream) were given the same time as these riders. Deignan rolled home in 58th place. Martin was delayed by a puncture, but as this was inside the final 3km, no time loss was officially recorded.
Stirling steers Ireland to U-19 victory
CRICKET: A magnificent innings of 164 from Paul Stirling helped Ireland claim the overall title at the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifier with a massive 291-run victory over Vanuatu in Toronto on Sunday, writes Emmet Riordan.
The 19-year-old senior international showed his class to bring up his second century of the tournament and finish as the top run-scorer with 423 over the eight games played. Stirling hit 17 fours and seven sixes in his 128-ball stay at the crease, sharing in an 111-run fourth wicket stand with Ben Ackland, who contributed 31, before putting on 96 with Graham McDonnell for the fifth.
After a slow start to the tournament, McDonnell’s 74 runs came off just 38 balls that included eight fours and two sixes. When the dust settled, Ireland had posted a massive 373 for five from 50 overs.
Juniors move up two place
EQUESTRIAN: The Irish junior team improved from overnight eighth to sixth in the European eventing championships which concluded yesterday in Waregem, Belgium, writes Margie McLoone.
Unfortunately, Rachael Power had been eliminated following three refusals on Sunday’s cross-country course with TLB Interactive so there was pressure on the remaining trio in the show jumping phase.
Lauren Persse fared best when clear on Darragh Promise to complete on her dressage score of 59 penalties and finish 22nd individually.
Both David Hannigan (Red Baron) and Michelle Kenny (Golden Orphan) had a fence down with the latter also picking up a single time penalty over the coloured poles and they finished 26th and 28th respectively.
The championship was won by Germany.
