Doherty throws away chance

Stephen Hendry sailed into the winner's circle again on the shores of the Mediterranean last night. Hendry captured the Rothmans Malta Grand Prix title in dramatic style by completing a 7-6 victory over Ken Doherty with a 69 break in the deciding frame.

Tennis: Sweden managed a victory and a defeat yesterday to complete a 4-1 victory against Italy in Milan, leading one of the world's top tennis nations to a seventh Davis Cup trophy. Magnus Gustafsson defeated Gianluca Pozzi 6-4, 6-2 to give Sweden a 4-0 lead in a tie they clinched on Saturday. But Magnus Norman fell victim to a charged-up Diego Nargiso, who saved face for the beleaguered hosts with a win in the last singles 6-2, 6-3.

Tennis: Ireland had to be satisfied with the runner-up spot following a frustrating bid that ended in a 2-1 defeat by Belgium in the Division One final of the men's European team tennis championship at Marsa, Malta yesterday. Scott Barron went desperately close to celebrating his return to competitive action after almost a six-month lay-off due to injury, but agonisingly lost out in a final settie break (7-4) to Arnaud Fontaine after over two hours play. Owen Casey also promised much, but lost out in a first set tie-break against Timothy Aerts before losing the second set 6-2. Barron combined with John Doran for Ireland's only success, a 7-5, 7-6 success over Christopher Rochus and Fontaine in the dead rubber.

Badminton: It proved a successful weekend for four members of the Irish squad at the Welsh Open in Cardiff, with brothers Bruce and Mark Topping reaching the men's doubles final and Donie O'Halloran and Elaine Kiely winning through to the mixed doubles decider.

Cycling: Robin Seymour continued his great sequence of successes in the Irish cyclo-cross championship at Craigavon yesterday when he took the title for the eighth time in a row. At the finish, after eight laps of a testing circuit, Seymour was out on his own again, clear by three minutes and three seconds from Alastair Martin, with Robert Lamont third at 5:15.

Cycling: Richard Virenque, one of the Festina riders at the centre of last summer's Tour de France drug scandal, is expected to retire. "We had to take a decision that we didn't choose," his brother and manager Lionel said yesterday. "Richard has no team. He will probably give up his career." Virenque, 29, is one of two Festina squad members who have consistently denied taking illicit substances. Pascal Herve, the other rider protesting his innocence, is determined to continue.

Rowing: Fittingly, perhaps, at the end of a year in which weather conditions were particularly unkind to Irish rowing, the St Michael's Head of the River at O'Brien's Bridge, on the Clare/Limerick border on Saturday had to be abandoned due to heavy, if localised, fog. Eighty of the huge entry of 510 crews did clock times but by one o'clock safety considerations ruled out any further activity on the water.

Athletics: Japan's Naoko Takahashi ran the fourth fastest marathon of all-time in winning the Asian Games in Bangkok yesterday. Her time of two hours, 21 minutes and 46 seconds was just 59 seconds outside the world record, even though she ran completely on her own in high heat and humidity.