Sports digest

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Henson not to get contract

RUGBY:Wales centre Gavin Henson will not be offered a new contract at French club Toulon, French media reported yesterday. Henson, who joined Toulon in February, was suspended by the Top 14 club in April with unconfirmed reports saying he had fought with a team-mate following a match.

“We do not want blame anyone, but for next season we hope that team spirit is a priority,” club president Mourad Boudjellal said.

Davis books place in British Open

GOLF:Brian Davis booked his place in this years British Open when he won the US qualifying tournament at the Gleneagles Country Club in Texas after Sergio Garcia withdrew because of an infected finger. Davis, of England, shot six-under-par 64 to win the single-day event, which offered eight automatic qualifying berths, and was reduced from 36 holes to 18 because of heavy rain and lightning.

American Chad Campbell finished outright second with 65, one shot ahead of compatriots, Davis Love III, Spencer Levin, Chris Tidland and Bob Estes and Australias Nathan Green, who also all qualified for golfs oldest major, to be played at Royal St Georges at Sandwich in July.

The final qualifying spot went to American Jerry Kelly, who won a playoff after six players finished tied for eighth after matching rounds of 67. Garcia pulled out after just four holes, complaining that his finger was too sore to hold the club.

UCI denies collusion claims by Hamilton

CYCLING:The sport's world governing body, the UCI, yesterday hit back strongly at the accusation by Tyler Hamilton, a former team-mate of Lance Armstrong, that it colluded in covering up a positive test by Armstrong for the banned blood booster EPO.

Hamilton told CBS’s 60 Minutes that “people took care of” a positive test for the seven-times Tour de France winner during the 2001 Tour of Switzerland – just months after a test for the previously undetectable EPO was ratified. The programme also claimed that Armstrong and his team director, Johan Bruyneel, met the director of the Swiss anti-doping laboratory – a meeting arranged, they said, by the UCI. Together, said Hamilton, they “figured out a way for it to go away”.

Armstrong, who says he has never used banned substances, also came out fighting, at least through his spokesman, Mark Fabiani. Speaking yesterday, Fabiani accused Hamilton of lying in order to get a book deal.

McVeigh to face Delaney in final

GOLF:Danielle McVeigh (Royal Co Down) was in devastating form yesterday when reaching her first Lancome Women's Close final and will play Carlow's Karen Delaney at Carlow today.

McVeigh was two up on three times past champion Eileen Rose Power by the seventh and with a birdie three on the ninth she went three up. Eileen Rose was unlucky to find water on the 10th and by the 14th McVeigh was dormie five and won the match 54.

Karen Delaney continued her impressive form and progressed into the final when she beat Patrice Delaney of Birr. She was four up after nine with birdies at the eighth and ninth. Patrice reduced the deficit to three by winning the 10th hole and then birdied the 14th to be only two adrift.

Karen regained her composure and won the 15th and with both players having birdies on the 16th Karen secured her place in the final much to the delight of the home crowd.

Contador strengthens grip on Giro

CYCLING: Spain's Alberto Contador strengthened his overall lead in the Giro dItalia with his second stage victory of the race, a 12.7 kilometre uphill time trial, yesterday yesterday.

Contador won the stage from Belluno to Nevegal with an advantage of 34 seconds over Vincenzo Nibali of Italy with Italian Michele Scarponi in third. After winning stage nine on Mount Etna and taking the lead, stage 16 was Contador’s second victory and he now leads overall by four minutes 58 seconds from Scarponi with Nibali in third.

Nibali claimed the fastest time on the flatter first five kilometres of the course, but Contadors steadier ascent on the second section enabled the Spaniard to surge ahead.

Doubts over Afridi making trip

CRICKET: Doubts were growing last night over the participation of Shahid Afridi in the Pakistan side to play Ireland in the RSA Series of one-day internationals in Belfast this weekend, writes Emmet Riordan.

Afridi was stripped of the one-day captaincy after their recent series victory over West Indies in the Caribbean, with Misbah-ul-Haq installed for the two games against Ireland at Stormont on Saturday on Monday. And reports from Pakistan yesterday were that the all-rounder would miss the two games in Belfast to spend time with his ill father, who is receiving treatment in the United States. However, Pakistan Cricket Board they had not received any request from Afridi regarding his withdrawal.

Pakistan beat West Indies by 196 runs in the second test yesterday to draw their two Test series 1-1.