Band of gold gives Harrington fright

Padraig Harrington was threatened with the first crisis of his two-year marriage during a walk from the practice ground to the 10th tee at Valderrama yesterday: he somehow allowed his wedding ring, which he doesn't wear when playing golf, to slip from his trouser pocket.

An understandably enthusiastic search ensued, involving about 20 bystanders. Then, in a remarkable stroke of luck, the errant ring was found in the grass near the practice chipping area.

Harrington explained: "Alexander Cejka dropped his own ring in the grass to see how far it would sink, and when he looked down, it had landed directly next to mine.

"Given that we had about 100 yards to cover, it was a real stroke of luck."

And what of the prospect of facing his wife, Caroline, without the ring? "I wouldn't have been in the best books," he said, clearly relieved and showing off the prized possession.

Boxing: Ireland's hopes of providing a strong challenge for places in the Olympic Games and European championships next year suffered further setbacks in Bucharest, Romania, yesterday when four Irish boxers were defeated, leaving only two with a hope of advancement today.

Ireland's main hope for an Olympic spot, Neil Gough from the St Paul's club in Waterford, was comprehensively beaten by the reigning Olympic 67 k champion, Oleg Saitov from Russia, on a score of 50 in the quarter-finals. Also knocked out of contention for an Olympic place was Aodh Carlyle from the Sacred Heart club in Dublin, beaten 10-5 by a Yugoslav opponent after putting up stiff resistance. But his brother Terry was clearly out-pointed on a score of 7-0 by a Bulgarian in the European qualifiers.

Also out of Olympic contention was Conal Carmichael from Holy Trinity in Belfast, beaten 12-1 by Padric Weldeski from Poland.

Today Jim Rooney from Holy Family in Belfast takes his hopes of an Olympic place in the 48 k division into the ring, while John Duddy from the Ring club in Derry will bid to advance in the 71 k division.

Athletics: Plans by Olympics officials for a worldwide anti-doping agency have been backed by the EU.

European sports commissioner Viviane Reding and Finnish cultural minister Suvi Linden endorsed the plans after meeting International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch at Olympic headquarters yesterday.

The scheme, which has come under fire from the United States, calls for the controversial IOC-led anti-doping agency to be operational by the end of the year.

Its first board of directors is to be appointed on November 10th. The number of seats on the board has not yet been decided, but is expected to be around 30, evenly split between sports organisations and governments.

The EU will have two seats while the IOC is seeking three. Reding said the agency, to be set up as a Swiss foundation, will be provisionally based in Lausanne, but, once a board of governors is formed, applications will be accepted to find a permanent home.

The US, along with the EU, would like to see the agency based outside Switzerland.