Seymour secures seventh title

Cycling: Mountain bike rider Robin Seymour yesterday added to his formidable record in Irish national championship races when he took his seventh consecutive title in Sligo, writes Shane Stokes.

Seymour, who has also won the last nine cyclo-cross championships, forged clear first time up the climb and, revelling in the muddy conditions, eked out a lead of almost two minutes per lap over the chasing trio of Richie McAuley, Colm Mullen and Don Travers. By the end of the race the Olympic-bound cyclist had established a formidable winning margin of over 12 minutes, lapped all but two of his rivals and earned valuable world-ranking points to boot.

Similarly, cyclist Sadie Parker secured 20 UCI points by winning the Elite women's event, but because of Parker's New Zealand nationality, second-placed Tarja Owens takes the Irish title, her sixth in succession. The duo had pulled clear of former hillrunner Beth McCluskey on the opening lap, and in the sprint for the line Parker was fastest.

Meanwhile, Brian Kenneally marked his return to the green jersey in style when he secured the runner-up slot in the Havant Grand Prix road race in England. Kenneally broke clear with Mark Lovatt after 65 of the 110 miles had elapsed, but with the Englishman refusing to add to the pacemaking, victory slipped out of his grasp.

Lorraine Manning was best of the Irish in the under-23 European championships when she finished 34th in the women's race. In the Elite men's event, David O'Loughlin was 49th and Stephen Gallagher 129th. Both Paul Healion and David McQuaid failed to finish.

In Hamburg, Ciaran Power was 76th in yesterday's Cyclassics World Cup race, two minutes and 11 seconds behind winner Gabriele Missaglia of Italy.

Tennis: Wimbledon champion Venus Williams extended her winning streak to 14 matches when beating fellow American Amy Frazier 6-2 6-3 to reach the final of the WTA Acura Classic in California.

Williams will seek her third consecutive title when she faces fourth seed Monica Seles, who beat Russian Anna Kournikova 6-3 7-6 (7-2) in the other semi-final.

Williams has a 19-3 record in six tournaments since returning from wrist tendinitis, winning her first Grand Slam crown at Wimbledon.

Tennis: Three-times Wimbledon champion Boris Becker has been asked by the German tax administration to pay 10 million marks ($4.63 million), newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported yesterday. An investigation into Becker's tax situation launched over three years ago should be dropped if he decided to pay up, the newspaper reported, quoting Becker's tax adviser Erich Samson.

"The proceedings against Mr Becker could be dropped in two weeks' time," Samson told Bild am Sonntag.

"The tax administration informed us in June of the conditions for the proceedings to be ended. Now Mr Becker has to decide whether he accepts to pay the requested sum."

Becker is alleged to have used a residence he had in Monaco to avoid paying tax while still living in Germany from 1985 to 1993.

Rugby: Ireland schoolboys recovered from an early try and a bruising first half to finish 39-10 winners against New South Wales in Nowra yesterday. This fourth game of their Australian tour proved the toughest to date and Ireland went behind to a third-minute try, a lead the home side held until captain David O'Neill scored a 23rd-minute equaliser.

Six minutes later Blackrock's Michael Carroll scored a second as the Irish began to get to grips with a powerful NSW pack.

Two early second-half tries helped the visitors composure and Shane Jennings made the game safe with a try in the 60th minute. The Australians responded with their third try, five minutes later, but once again, Ireland finished the stronger and rounded it off with tries for Roger Wilson and Conor Quaid.

Boxing: Controversial former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is to fight in Malaysia next year, Bernama news agency said yesterday. It quoted local sponsor Promote Classic Sdn Bhd as saying the fight would take place on January 20th, but the 34-year-old American's opponent would be known only in November.

Kuala Lumpur last hosted a top world heavyweight clash when Muhammad Ali met Joe Bugner in 1975. Ali will be in the ring next January to introduce Tyson and his opponent at the 100,000-capacity National Stadium, Bernama said.

Motor Cycling: Home-favourite Neil Hodgson and his former team-mate Troy Bayliss took a victory each at round eight of the Superbike World Championships at Brands Hatch.

Bayliss - riding in place of the injured Carl Fogarty - took the first leg on a factory Ducati while Hodgson triumphed in the second on his independent Ducati.

Hodgson repeatedly broke the lap record as he chased Bayliss to the chequered flag in race one, and lowered the record again as he dominated race two ahead of a distant Bayliss.

Rumours have circulated that Brands Hatch will replace Italy's Imola track as the venue for the final round of the championship in October.