Snooker: Ken Doherty, the 1997 world champion, recovered from a slow start to coast to a 5-1 victory over Worcester's Dave Finbow at the televised Grand Prix in Preston last night. Doherty lost the opening frame but, despite failing to construct a single half-century, rattled off the next five. He now awaits Joe Swail or Paul Hunter.
Ronnie O'Sullivan delighted the Guild Hall crowd with a lucrative 147 break in the second frame of his fourth-round clash against Scotland's Graeme Dott. O'Sullivan went on to wrap up a speedy 5-1 victory to secure a last-16 meeting with Andy Hicks.
Athletics: Catherina McKiernan, accompanied by coach Joe Doonan, left Dublin yesterday to complete the final phase of her preparations for the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, writes Peter Byrne. It will be almost a year to the day since McKiernan's last marathon in Amsterdam where she overcame a foot injury to record her third win in as many marathon starts.
Since then, she has run just three races, the last a half marathon when she finished almost six minutes off the pace.
Cycling: Robin Seymour is poised to become the first, and possibly the only, Irish cyclist to qualify for the Olympic Games in Sydney next September, writes Jim McArdle. After travelling around the world this year chasing qualifying points for the Olympic mountain bike race, Seymour's ranking of 58th place with 43 points puts Ireland 20th of 22 nations to take part.
The rankings on December 31st decide the Olympic line-up. Mexico and Sweden are in the next positions behind Ireland and Seymour has to go to the last two races in the US to hold onto the qualifying place. Seymour's position will qualify just one Irish rider, while the top nations are allowed three.
Rugby: Blackrock College have signed a new scrum-half from Leicester. James Ferris, from Naas, Co Kildare, was a member of the Newbridge Leinster Schools Senior Cup team in 1996.
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