Sports Digest/Rowing: Kerryman Seán Casey moves centre stage in Irish rowing this weekend - courtesy of strong winds from the west, reports Liam Gorman.
The gales predicted for Galway tomorrow have forced the abandonment of the Tribesmen Head of the River and the national time trial to be run in association with it, leaving Casey's bid to win the prestigious single sculls title at the Head of the Charles River in Boston the premier event of the weekend.
Casey, who finished fourth in Boston last year, has been given the honour of being first off in the Championship Singles tomorrow evening (4.13 p.m. local time), with his chief rivals being Jueri Jaanson of Estonia, the silver medallist from Athens in this most competitive of disciplines, and Australian Duncan Free.
Richard Parr, the high performance director of Irish rowing, says he hopes Casey will be in the picture for 2005 but can make no promises on funding.
Parr has made no immediate plans regarding an event to replace the planned trial in Galway tomorrow but the coaching forum organised by the Irish Amateur Rowing Union for Sunday goes ahead.
BASEBALL: After their epic comeback against the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox can now lift a curse hanging over them for more than 80 years.
The Red Sox reached the World Series by crushing their arch-rivals 10-3 at the Yankee Stadium in game seven to become the first team in major league history to overturn a 3-0 deficit and win a best-of-seven series.
No NBA team has ever erased a 3-0 deficit to win a series and it has only occurred twice in the NHL, the last time by the New York Islanders in 1975.
TENNIS: Tim Henman refused to make any excuses for his third-round defeat to Ivan Ljubicic in the Madrid Masters yesterday. The top seed had a blood test to discover the cause of his fatigue, but insisted his 4-6, 6-4, 2-6 loss was down to his own poor play.
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