Sports Digest

A round-up of today's other sports stories in breif...

O'Sullivan recovers from bad start against Hendry

SNOOKER:O'Sullivan won the final three frames of the initial session to level the best-of-33 showdown at 4-4 against seven-time champion Hendry.

O'Sullivan started as an odds-on favourite to beat Hendry, whom he had thrashed 17-4 in their last Crucible meeting, a semi-final clash four years ago.

But his long potting has been his Achilles heel during the tournament with only a 57 per cent success rate and he tried to rein in his natural attacking instincts and play in a more conservative vein until the closing stages of the session.

Hendry took full advantage in the opening frame when O'Sullivan refused a long red and produced a poor safety shot.

Hendry, making a record 12th last four appearance, cued smoothly and fluently as he put together a superb 140 total clearance for the 718th century of his career.

It was fully half an hour before O'Sullivan potted his first ball of the match mid-way through the second frame but the world number one made too many unforced errors.

Both players were guilty of mistakes in the final frame before the break but O'Sullivan finally opened his account after Hendry failed to leave the white behind the black and stuck the final yellow over the middle pocket.

Nadal hits the ton on clay

TENNIS:Rafael Nadal took his remarkable record to 100 wins in his last 101 matches on clay by beating fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-4 6-3 to reach the Barcelona Open quarter-finals.

The top seed, chasing his fourth consecutive title there, appeared unaffected by strapping on his left shoulder as he eased through.

Nadal's run of victories on clay dates back to his first Monte Carlo title in 2005, with his only defeat on the surface in that time coming against world number one Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters last May.

"It's nice but I am more happy to be in the Barcelona quarter-finals," said Nadal. "It's one of my favourite tournaments.

"It was a difficult match with lots of long service games so I am happy to get through."

McEwen back to winning ways

CYCLING:Australian sprint ace Robbie McEwen put a disappointing beginning of the year behind him with his first victory of the season in the 172km second stage of the Tour de Romandie.

McEwen's 104th career win was quite similar to the previous ones. The 35-year-old rider from Brisbane waited for the final stretch to surge away and bemuse his rivals.

Italy's Daniele Bennati, who should be one of his leading opponents in the sprints of the Giro d'Italia later this month, was second ahead of Dane Matti Breschel.

"It's very satisfying because it's the first of the season after a few disappointing months," McEwen told reporters. "I had a bad crash in February, then I was sick and I had to work hard at making it back. The Tour de Romandie was the first race I targeted to be back in top condition.

"After that, I'm going to the Giro and it's good for the morale," added McEwen, winner of 12 Giro stages.

Forbes takes on De La Hoya 

BOXING:Former IBF super-featherweight champion Steve Forbes said he intended to prove his doubters wrong once again when he fights Oscar De La Hoya tomorrow.

Forbes recognises the 12-round bout against the 10-time world champion represents by far the highest profile fight of his career.

"I think Oscar's made a mistake," he said. "I finally get the opportunity to show what I know I can do."

Pickering new Six Nations chair

RUGBY:Former Wales captain David Pickering has been elected chairman of the Six Nations.

Pickering, who is also Welsh Rugby Union chairman, takes over from Jacques Laurans and starts his three-year term of office with immediate effect.

Frenchman Laurans, chairman since September 2002, will remain on the Six Nations council.

Pickering won 23 caps for Wales between 1983 and 1987, captaining his country eight times.

He also served as the Wales manager.

"It is an honour to be elected chairman of the Six Nations and a privilege to work with such a dedicated group of people as the Six Nations council," he said.

"I would like to thank our outgoing chairman, Jacques Laurans, for leading the Six Nations Council through a period of exceptional growth and success."

Pumas to face Scotland

RUGBY:New Argentina coach Santiago Phelan is relishing the opportunity to see how his new charges compete against Scotland next month.

The 44-cap flanker, who retired through injury in 2003, was unveiled in March as successor to the highly-regarded Marcelo Loffreda, who left to join Leicester Tigers after guiding the national team to third place in the World Cup.

The 34-year-old may find it tricky to field his strongest side in the Tests on June 7th and 14th, as his Europe-based players could still be involved in club competitions.

"We will try to have our best players. We will see if the European clubs will release them or not," Phelan said.

"We must remember some of them will surely reach the final stages of their respective leagues so maybe we will not count on them.

"We have a long road left before naming the squad to play Scotland and we have just started training. We will not know which names will form it until the last minute."