Donovan sets Antarctic record

DIGEST:Kilkenny hurler Henry Shefflin was named RTÉ Sports Person of the Year for 2006 at an awards ceremony in Dublin on Saturday night.

The Ballyhale forward was a pivotal figure for Brian Cody's men as they denied Cork a memorable three-in-a-row in the All-Ireland final in September, while his prolific scoring record also helped Kilkenny claim the National League title.

Shefflin's award was the culmination of an exhaustive nominations process which saw more than 2,000 people vote for their choice on rté.ie to create a shortlist of 10 sports icons for 2006.

From this, a panel of six judges confirmed the 27-year-old as the winner for 2006.

Munster were crowned Team of the Year following their Heineken Cup triumph.

Cian O'Connor scored the only Irish win of the weekend when galloping to victory in yesterday's two-phased speed class at the Spanish show-jumping fixture in La Coruna, writes Grania Willis.

The Co Meath-based rider picked up €9,000 after stopping the clock on 25.80 seconds with Echo Beach. He alsofinished second on Saturday with Zanoubia.

Meanwhile, Jessica Kürten continued her run of top-10 placings with an eighth-place finish in yesterday's World Cup qualifier at the Olympia Christmas show in London.

Mayo's Cameron Hanley was also in the money with a second in the Mitsubishi ride-and-drive in Frankfurt and finished seventh in the Master's League final with SIEC Hippica Kerman.

One of the most successful clubs in the country is spearheading a campaign to have UCD and other college teams barred from competing in the AIB All-Ireland club championships. Athenry, three-time winners of the All-Ireland club hurling title, want a ban on college and university teams.

The Galway club say allowing the likes of UCD compete is tampering with the core of the competition.

Athenry have taken a motion to the Galway County Board in a bid to have the rules changed by Congress next year.

Delegate Jarlath Cloonan, the former Galway team manager, said, "There is a ban on divisional or group teams competing in the All-Ireland club championships and this should be extended to include schools and colleges."Peter Ebdon last night joined the elite band of players to have won the UK Championship as well as the world title when he beat Stephen Hendry 10-6 in the final at York.

Ebdon, world champion in 2002, took the first four frames in the evening session of the final to lead 8-4. Hendry made a series of basic errors that affected his confidence.

Trailing 7-4, the world number one missed a straightforward red to a top pocket and walked disconsolately out of the arena knowing he was two frames from a comprehensive defeat. Despite winning the next two there was no way back for the seven times former world champion.

Peter Ebdon bt Stephen Hendry 10-6 (Hendry's scores first): 88-9 (51), 47-59, 59-38 (59), 60-48, 22-66 (60), 0-83 (83), 0-135 (135), 77-49 (52), 34-68, 33-79, 7-52, 35-72 (64), 59-51, 116-1 (116), 5-75, 1-70.

Top seeds Madeline Perry and Liam Kenny took the titles at the national squash championships at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club yesterday, both players winning their finals without dropping a set, writes Mary Hannigan.

Perry capped a successful year by regaining the title she lost last December when injury forced her out of the event, getting the better of second seed Aisling Blake, 9-3 9-4 9-2. It was the Banbridge player's eighth national title.

On Saturday Galway's John Rooney ended Derek Ryan's quest for a 17th final appearance when he won their semi-final 3-0, but he was no match for defending champion Kenny yesterday, losing 11-9 11-6 11-6 in 40 minutes.

Richard Donovan set a remarkable record in Antarctica at the weekend when winning the Antarctic 100-kilometre foot race.

The Galway ultra-runner covered the distance in 12 hours, 55 minutes and six seconds.

The Antarctic 100km is the only ultra race held within the Antarctic Circle.

Donovan set a relentless pace from the outset and French favourite Henri Alain d'Andria kept in close pursuit over the first 25km. However, Donovan succeeded in widening the gap significantly by the 50km point and went on to win with some ease by a 30-minute margin.

Finishing in glorious Antarctic summer sunshine at 1:05am Irish time on Saturday morning, he smashed the existing record for 100k by an astonishing three hours.