Sports Digest

A round-up of today's sports news in brief

Duddy's dreams of world title bout evaporate

BOXING:John Duddy's dreams of a world title shot bit the dust after he dropped a unanimous decision to Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr in a title eliminator in Texas on Saturday.Unbeaten Chavez, a son of the legendary three-weight world champ, bossed most of the main event and almost stopped the Irish middleweight in the 12th and final round in San Antonio.

“He ain’t dad, but he ain’t bad” ran one of the headlines after the Mexican was handed a 120-108, 116-112, 117-111 verdict on the Top Rank promotion.

Derry-born Duddy (31), started brightly against Chavez, nicknamed JC, in San Antonio, and wobbled his opponent in the sixth round with a right hand counter.

But Chavez (24), dominated the remaining half dozen frames to register a comprehensive – one of the scorecards gave him all 12 rounds – decision.

England win third ODI

CRICKET:England beat Australia by one wicket in a nail-biting finish to the third one-day international at Old Trafford yesterday to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Set 213 to win, England made a bright start through Andrew Strauss (87), Paul Collingwood (40) and Eoin Morgan (27), but a late collapse left it up to Tim Bresnan to hit the winning runs in the last over.

Healthy win for Dwyer in Cowes

SAILING:As the countdown to the Commodore's Cup in August heats up, Irish boats had a mixed weekend in Cowes for the British IRC National Championships. Dave Dwyer's marinerscove.ie won Class One by a healthy margin, boosting team hopes, writes David Branigan.

In fact, the Cork skipper was declared the overall championship winner for the second time.

Meanwhile, the Conway Media Round Ireland Race finished yesterday, minutes shy of a full week at sea for the final finisher, Yahtzee from Dun Laoghaire. The overall winner had been confirmed as Piet Vroon’s Tonnerre de Breskens 3, while John Loden and Paddy Cronin on Psipsina won the two-handed division.

Aussie Lunn wins

GOLF:Australian Karen Lunn shot a seven-under-par 65 to claim her first Ladies' European Tour title in 13 years at the Portugal Open.

Lunn, the 1993 Women’s British Open champion, finished on 12 under par after three rounds, one ahead of England’s Trish Johnson, who also shot 65, and Iben Tinning of Denmark (68).

Ireland’s Rebecca Coakley shot a third consecutive 70 to finish in a tie for 11th place. Martina Gillen was six shots back on 216 after a final 71.

New world series draft on today

BOXING:Irish Amateur Boxing Association president Dominic O'Rourke and chief executive Don Stewart will attend today's international draft of the revolutionary World Series of Boxing (WSB) in London.

Ken Egan, John Joe Joyce, John Joe Nevin and David Oliver Joyce have signed up for the WSB, which is due to start later this year.

Today’s draft at the Millennium Kensington Hotel will see eight franchises representing cities from Europe and Asia complete their teams from a selection of 175 boxers from 64 countries.

The WSB, which has the backing of the world amateur officials AIBA, marks a radical departure for the sport.

Boxers competing in the series will not wear protective headgear or vests and will be rewarded financially. WSB bouts will last for five three-minute rounds, as opposed to three three-minute rounds in amateur boxing.

Bann junior 18 put down mark

ROWING:Bann's junior 18 eight emerged triumphant from a terrific final race at the Athlone regatta on Saturday evening. The win puts the Coleraine club in pole position for a win in this competitive grade in next month's National Championships, writes Liam Gorman.

Neptune’s intermediate eight raced against the junior eights, but Bann had half a length to spare over the Dublin crew and a further one length over the junior 18 crew from St Joseph’s in Galway. Portora juniors were two feet further back.

The women’s senior eight final was also a good race, with Commercial besting Portora by half a length.

The host club were thrilled with the home win in the junior 18 single scull, where Seán Egan was a narrow winner.

Bann’s Peter Chambers made it through qualifying for Henley Royal Regatta in the Diamond Sculls, but the Silver Goblets pair of Martin Murphy and Brendan Smyth did not.