New chairman elected in Meath

DIGEST/GAELIC GAMES:Meath county chairman Brendan Dempsey failed to be re-elected at the county convention in Navan when Barney Allen, who had stepped down as secretary because of the five-year rule, defeated him 107 votes to 70.

Allen has been an officer of the county board for 30 years, 23 as assistant secretary and seven as secretary. However, Dempsey did win a place on the Central Council. Earlier, Dempsey said that the staging of rugby and soccer internationals at Croke Park was a great move by the GAA. "It was tremendous to see our stadium being flashed across the world," he said.

SQUASH:There were no surprises in the finals of the Irish National Championships at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis club yesterday, where Madeleine Perry and Liam Kenny retained their titles with victories over second seeds Aisling Blake and John Rooney, writes Mary Hannigan.

Perry, who had been out of action for two months with an injury, won her eighth national title with a 9-0, 9-7, 7-9, 9-4 defeat of her Sligo opponent after 48 minutes on court.

The men's final was a repeat of last year, with Australian-born Kenny once again getting the better of Irish team-mate Rooney. Both men only returned earlier in the week from India, where Ireland finished 12th at the World Team Championships.

That schedule took its toll on Rooney, who retired from the final when two games down (8-11, 4-11) and trailing 1-6 in the third.

SNOOKER: Ronnie O'Sullivan captured his fourth UK Championship victory, and first ranking title in nearly three years, by defeating Stephen Maguire 10-2 in the final last night. O'Sullivan was at his scintillating best at Telford International Centre throughout and took all eight frames in the opening session.

Maguire, the 2004 champion, did at least avoid the ignominy of a whitewash on the resumption, rattling in breaks of 99 and 57 to win two frames. But O'Sullivan responded with 126 and then a 94 to complete victory.

It was his 19th ranking title in all.

CRICKET:The second one-day international between Australia and New Zealand was abandoned due to heavy rain after only six overs. New Zealand, who won the toss, lost three wickets in the first three overs before reaching 30 for three when the players were forced off the Sydney Cricket Ground.