A round-up of other sports stories in brief...
Safin beats Hewitt in Monte Carlo
TENNIS: Marat Safin brought Lleyton Hewitt down to earth yesterday when he won the battle of the former world number ones by beating him 6-4 7-5 in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Australian Hewitt, who won the US Clay Court Championships in Houston on Sunday, could not match Safin’s accuracy and bowed out on the third match point when he sent a backhand wide.
Russian Safin, who topped the ATP rankings for the first time in November 2000 following his US Open victory, next faces Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti. He set his record straight to 7-7 with Hewitt, whom he beat in the Australian Open final in 2005. Hewitt, who became world number one in November 2001, had his right thigh strapped after the first set but did not give up easily.
Irish firm wins African Nations deal
SOCCER: SIS (IRL) Ltd have won a multi-million dollar contract to design and build 15 natural grass pitches for the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola.
The project was signed by SIS chief executive officer George Mullan in Luanda last week with Cocan (the tournament’s organising committee) and Angolas Ministry of Public Construction.
Mullan said: “This project opens up a new market for SIS in Africa and in particular, Angola.”
Mullan spent three weeks visiting the venues and reviewing the plans with Daniel Ribeiro of GeoDesenho, a Portuguese company.
SIS presented a unique proposal for the championships, not only to design and build but also to maintain the pitches through the growing period and to the end of the championship.
Mullan added: “Rather than just build the pitches we wanted to take ownership of the pitches through to the end of the tournament, this allows Cocan to focus on the tournament without concerns over the pitches.”SIS will take 22 employees to Angola.
Decision on Brawn GP car due today
MOTOR SPORT: Formula Ones international court of appeal met yesterday to decide the legality of the Brawn GP car that took Jenson Button to victory in the first two races of the season. Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault and BMW-Sauber have appealed against stewards decisions that the rear diffusers used by Brawn, Toyota and Williams were legal. A verdict is due today.
Quinn has his say on omission from panel
GAELIC GAMES: Gerry Quinn’s omission from the Clare hurling panel during the final rounds of the league may well be permanent, if comments the player makes in this week’s Clare People are anything to go by.
Quinn was axed from the panel for alleged disciplinary reasons two days before the Cork game back on March 22nd, although he says manager Mike McNamara has been overly harsh in his dealings on that.
“There was a rumour going around I was drinking the night before the Tipperary game and that simply isn’t true. I was at a charity fundraiser for a friend, there was no drink whatsoever involved.”
The 28-year-old Corofin clubman also spoke about the fall out with McNamara before the Cork game: “I was sick the day before with a virus and was in bed by 5pm. But I felt that if I could come around on the Saturday I’d be okay for the game.
“So I went to training to meet the (team) doctor. He normally arrives with about 10 minutes to go before the end of the session. That day I was thinking about ringing Mike to tell him what the story was, but to be honest, I don’t have that kind of relationship with him. I felt that a phone call wouldn’t have made much of a difference and I’d get the same reaction. So I rang Mike on the way out to the training session in Gurteen. He basically cut loose with me on the phone. He told me he was sick of talking to me, but the thing is, he hadn’t spoken to me on a personal basis about anything. Nothing about timekeeping.”
Botha bowling investigated
CRICKET: South Africa off-spinner Johan Botha has been reported a second time for having a suspect bowling action, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday.
The 26-year-old was reported by the umpires over his quick and doosra deliveries following the hosts’ win over Australia in the fourth one-dayer in Port Elizabeth on Monday.
Botha will undergo an independent analysis of his action by the ICC.
Kennaugh dominant in Gorey
CYCLING: The Isle of Man rider Tim Kennaugh proved a dominant winner of the An Post Gorey Three Day, soloing to victory in the first and third stages and finishing a minute clear of team-mate Tom Black, writes Shane Stokes.
The junior riders then underlined their ability when they broke clear on Monday’s final leg, with Black taking the honours. The main bunch finished almost two minutes back. Notably, this stage is often one with very tight time gaps.
Kennaugh ended the race comfortably ahead of Black. Stage two time trial victor Martin Mizgayski (Wexford Wheelers) was two minutes and eight seconds back, with fourth and fifth overall going to Don Feighery (Comeragh) and Pádraig Marrey (Western Lakes).
