Deadline for entries closes in on Jordan and Jaguar

Sports Digest

MOTOR SPORT: Jordan and Jaguar have just one week left to secure their Formula One future before a deadline for entries to the 2005 season.

Entries for the season have to be submitted to the sport's governing body, the Federation International de l'Automobile, before November 15th. However sources close to both teams, one looking for new owners to prevent closure by Ford while the other seeks an engine deal, were yesterday optimistic neither would disappear.

"We are fully confident that everything will be in place and that we shall be participating in the 2005 world championship," Jordan's director of commercial affairs Ian Phillips said.

Jordan have been talking to Toyota and Phillips said last month an agreement was close, although a Toyota spokesman yesterday was unaware of any imminent announcement.

China's Shanghai Daily also reported last week that team boss Eddie Jordan was in Beijing to meet potential team backers.

Jaguar Racing would not comment on the state of negotiations for the sale and renaming of the team but sources said prospects were good.

Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz, owner of drinks company Red Bull, remained the main focus.

Meanwhile, Jordan driver Nick Heidfeld is to go up against BAR test driver Anthony Davidson in a test programme for Williams as the BMW-powered team seeks to find a team-mate for Mark Webber following the departures of its 2004 drivers Juan Pablo Montoya (to McLaren) and Ralf Schumacher (to Toyota).

Davidson will test at the Jerez circuit on December 1st, while Heidfeld, who was a target for Williams during the past season, will get his chance at the same circuit on December 9th.

German Heidfeld is believed to be favoured by engine supplier BMW, while Briton Davidson would suit the team's home profile. A move by the 27-year-old to to Williams would leave Jordan seeking new driver talent.

SNOOKER: Australian snooker player Eddie Charlton has died in a New Zealand hospital at the age of 75. Charlton was in New Zealand for a series of exhibitions and engagements and fell ill. He is understood to have died in intensive care from complications following surgery.

He was beaten in three World Championship finals - to England's John Pulman in 1968 and Welshman Ray Reardon in 1973 and 1975. Charlton won Pot Black three times, was Australian champion 20 times and won the World Matchplay Championship and World Open Championship.

BASKETBALL: Basketball Ireland yesterday announced skincare product company Nivea as the official sponsors of the men's superleague. The one-year deal comes two months into the new season and partially eases fears for the sport's financial future, after ESB ceased to be the sponsor of the game in Ireland.

SWIMMING: Swim Ireland selectors have been dealt a blow by leading swimmers ahead of next month's European short-course championships in Vienna, with just two of the six swimmers selected agreeing to compete, writes Pat Roche.

Reigning 200-metre breaststroke silver medallist Andrew Bree was among those selected but only Julie Douglas of Bangor and Florry O'Connell of Trogan accepted the organisation's invitation.

No official excuses have been issued but word from Swim Ireland suggests that college commitments and holidays are the main reasons for the apparent fall-off in interest.

Students Bree and Stephen Manley, who would have been Ireland's best prospects for medals over the 25-metre stretch, are based in Tennessee and Kentucky respectively.

SWIMMING: The Irish swimming team returned home from the Down Syndrome International Swimming championships in Durban, South Africa, yesterday with a haul of medals and two world records.

The team claimed eight gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals and finished third overall in the competition.

Laura-Jane Dunne broke the world record in the butterfly stroke, while Maeve Phillips broke the record she set in June to claim gold in the backstroke.

Medal winners: Gold - D O'Connor (3), P Oxley, T Mooney, K Troy, L-J Dunne, M Phillips. Silver - M Phillips (2), P Oxley, D O'Connor, T Mooney. Bronze - D Murphy, M-L Yap (2), D O'Connor, T Mooney (2), Free-style relay ladies team. Female competitors: L-J Dunne (Dublin), M Phillips (Dublin), K Troy (Offaly), M- Yap (Dublin), T Mooney (Dublin). Male competitors: D Johnstone (Dublin), D O'Connor (Dublin), D O'Sullivan (Galway), P Oxley (Westmeath), D Murphy (Kildare).