A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Niall O’Brien in auction for Bangladesh T20 League
CRICKET:Ireland wicket-keeper Niall O'Brien is in line for a €40,000-plus pay day after being included in this morning's auction for the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 competition, writes Emmet Riordan.
The 30-year-old from Sandymount in Dublin is one of eight Associate players included, with each of the six franchises required to pick at least one amongst a maximum of five overseas players.
O’Brien has been listed as a Category B player, with a base price of $50,000 (€39,000), with bids set to increase by €10,000 (€7,800) each time. The money is paid to each player, with top stars such as Kieron Pollard and Shahid Afridi starting at $100,000 (€78,000).
The competition is set to run from February 9th to 29th, dates which clash with Ireland’s tour to Kenya. O’Brien would be available for the two key World Cup qualifiers against Kenya, which are scheduled to take place in Mombasa on February 18th to 20th.
Ryan retires from Kilkenny set-up
GAA:The third player in recent weeks has announced his retirement from the Kilkenny hurling squad. Last night goalkeeper PJ Ryan announced his decision to quit the intercounty game.
Ryan joined the squad in 2002 and won seven senior All-Irelands, nine Leinster championships and five National Leagues during a distinguished career that also earned him an All-Star award.
“I leave with no regrets,” Ryan said. “I arrived with nothing but hope, and I left with a pocketful of medals. I was blessed to be part of Kilkenny hurling during a golden era.”
Without doubt the best day in the career of the Fenians (Johnstown) man came in the All-Ireland final of 2009 against Tipperary when he brought off a string of dazzling saves when they won by 2-22 to 0-23.
In recent weeks James Fitzpatrick and Eddie Brennan also announced their retirement from the Kilkenny team.
Loeb leads after Latvala crashes out
MOTOR SPORT: Eight-time reigning champion Sebastien Loeb topped the leaderboard after the first day of the World Rally Championship's season-opening event in Monte Carlo yesterday.
The French Citroen driver won three of yesterday’s four stages to establish a lead of one minute and four seconds after Finnish rival Jari-Matti Latvala crashed out.
Latvala, now his team’s main man after the departure of Mikko Hirvonen to Citroen, won the second stage and was in first place going into stage four only to roll his Ford, which forced his retirement.
As a result Spain’s Dani Sordo (Mini) finished in second place, with Norway’s Petter Solberg (Ford) in third place overall just one second further back.
France’s Sebastien Ogier (S2000 Skoda) and Russian driver Novikov Evgeny (M-Sport Ford) completed the top five.
Miami turn up the heat on Spurs
BASKETBALL: Three-pointers rained down from all directions as the Miami Heat burnt the San Antonio Spurs 120-98 late on Tuesday despite the absence of All-Star guard Dwyane Wade.
Miami’s perimeter assault came in the second half where they made 12 of their 16 attempts from beyond the arc to erase a 14-point first-half deficit and snap their three-game losing streak with a dizzying display of long-distance shooting. LeBron James led the way with 33 points and 10 assists, Chris Bosh scored 30 and Mike Miller (hernia injury) made his season debut off the bench with 18 points on a perfect six-from-six from three-point range.
It was a dramatic second-half turnaround that saw Miami rebound from a 17-point deficit in the second quarter. They did so with Wade looking on from the bench on his 30th birthday, missing his fourth game of the season due to a foot injury – Miami have a 4-0 record in games without Wade in the line-up.
Selby holds nerve to end Lee fightback
SNOOKER:World number one Mark Selby held off a determined fightback from Stephen Lee to reach the quarter-finals of the BGC Masters yesterday. Selby led 5-1 in the best-of-11-frames contest, but Lee came back to 5-4. It was there his revival stalled, as a break of 71 secured victory for Selby.
Two-time former champion Selby made breaks of 66, 57, 110 and 72 in establishing his four-frame lead, and led 57-0 in the next to bring what looked sure to be a quickfire victory into sight. Lee came back to the table when Selby missed an awkward red. In went a superb break of 78 from Lee, followed by 94 in the next frame to cut his arrears to 5-3.
Selby had a chance to put the finishing touches in the next frame but a foul on the brown gave Lee hope, and he potted the colours to make the gap just one. Lee had an early opening in the 10th frame but squandered it. Selby knocked in a long red, sparking a break of 71 which was enough to win.
‘Mystery man’ admits role in Khan bout
BOXING:"Mystery man" Mustafa Ameen has admitted he did get involved with the scorecards during Amir Khan's controversial defeat by Lamont Peterson on December 10th but claims he was simply helping to correct mistakes.
Ameen’s unexplained involvement at ringside became the latest in a line of complaints from Englishman Khan following his split decision loss in Washington, which saw the local fighter snatch his WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles.
Ameen had been unidentified at first before being named by promoter Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy. The IBF admitted he was loosely affiliated to them but insisted was not carrying out any official duties on fight night.
Yet Ameen, who denies any wrongdoing, admitted yesterday he did get involved with WBA supervisor Michael Welsh. “I noticed one error and a subsequent error. I assisted him in correcting it without touching anything,” he said.
Cahill names side
TENNIS: Garry Cahill, captain of the Irish Davis Cup Team, has named his players to face Hungary in the Davis Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group II first-round tie. Conor Niland will lead the team, and will be joined by Louk Sorensen, James McGee and Sam Barry for the tie at the Szeged Városi Sportcsarnok, Szeged, on February 10th-12th. "We have a strong team heading out to Hungary and we're really looking forward to the tie," said Cahill.
Finals live on TV
BASKETBALL: Basketball Ireland have announced Setanta Sports has become the association's television partner for the next three years. The development ensures this year's National Cup finals, men's and women's, will be broadcast live on Friday, February 3rd.
This years Men’s SuperLeague National Cup final will see UL Eagles take on UCC Demons (9.15pm), while in the women’s final, UL face holders DCU Mercy (7.15pm).
