A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Higgins battles through to second round of China Open
SNOOKER:John Higgins battled past Nigel Bond yesterday to seal his place in the second round of the China Open.
The Scot wrapped up a 5-3 win despite making only one break over 50 as Bond kept the pressure on until the very end.
The first two frames were shared, Bond taking the second with the help of a break of 41 after Higgins had got in first with a 49.
He added the third with a superb 138, the best break of the tournament thus far, but Higgins hit back with a 76 and it was all square at the mid-session interval.
There was no splitting them in the next two frames either, Bond edging ahead with a 46 and Higgins levelling once more with a 47.
The world number one then moved within one frame of victory with a 43 and appeared to be over the line in the next.
Bond, though, got the snooker and free ball he required to put the frame back in the balance – but a poor positional shot to the brown prevented the veteran clearing up and Higgins potted the clinching blue and pink.
Ali Carter hammered Stuart Bingham 5-1 to set up a last-16 clash with Marcus Campbell.
Peter Ebdon produced four half-centuries in a fluent 5-2 win over Gerard Greene.
He will now face world champion Neil Robertson.
Rising star Judd Trump enjoyed a 5-3 win over Hong Kong’s Marco Fu in the remaining match of the early session and will meet Mark Davis.
Irish coaches hail medal haul
BOXING:Irish coaches Eddie Bolger and Tony Davitt have hailed their squad after they claimed at least three bronze medals at the Pavlyukov Memorial Youth Multi-Nations in Russia yesterday.
David Roche, Stephen Broadhurst and Gary Sweeney all won their quarter-final bouts, Roche and Broadhurst seeing off Cuban and Russian champions in Anapa.
Roche, from the Riverstown BC in Cork, beat Cuban lightweight Yoangel Moyagibert 6-5 and Broadhurst, from the Dealgan BC in Dundalk, hammered middleweight Russian Syleymanov Amir 8-0.
Mayo light-heavyweight Gary Sweeney booked his ticket with a 1-0 win over Latvian Versoykin Nikita, but Cavan’s Patrick Nevin lost to Russian flyweight Dmitriy Makarov.
“David, Stephen and Gary produced fantastic performances and Patrick was in against a very good Russian,” said Bolger.
Michael Nevin, Kieran Forde, George Bates and Christy Joyce will be involved in last eight bouts today.
Wada also appeal Contador ruling
CYCLING:The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) have joined the International Cycling Union (UCI) in appealing against the acquittal of three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador following a positive test for a banned substance.
The 28-year-old Spaniard tested positive for clenbuterol on a rest day during the 2010 Tour. Contador protested his innocence and said the result must have been caused by contaminated meat he had eaten.
Contador was acquitted and given permission to resume his career by the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) last month, but the UCI challenged that decision. WADA have now also appealed to CAS, and a statement from the agency read: “The World Anti-Doping Agency has filed today a declaration to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne against the Spanish Cycling Federation’s decision in the case of Alberto Contador.”
Good start by Ireland in Spain
GOLF:Ireland made an encouraging start yesterday to their bid for the European Nations Cup at Sotogrande on Spain's Costa Del Sol. After the opening round they shared second place with the host country only one stroke behind leaders France, the reigning World champions.
Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy was in fine form firing a splendid 69 while Rathmore’s Irish Champion Alan Dunbar rerurned 71 and Portstewart’s Walker Cup hopeful Paul Cutler 72 as the other counting scores. Rory Leonard from Banbridge was out of sorts with a 79.
McElroy, one of the rising stars of Irish golf hardly put a foot wrong as he occupied one of the leading individual places at the end of day one. His short game was immaculate around this testing lay-out of the Real Club De Golf.
Ireland are four strokes clear of England who are chasing a third consecutive nations crown.
Spurs continue battle for stadium
SOCCER:The battle for the Olympic Stadium was thrown back into the public spotlight yesterday after Tottenham Hotspur took the first step towards mounting a legal challenge against the Olympic Park Legacy Company's (OPLC) decision to award the jewel in the 2012 Olympic crown to West Ham.
A bitter race between the two London rivals appeared to come to an end earlier this month when the OPLC’s decision to choose the Hammers as preferred bidder was rubber-stamped by the British government and the mayor of London.
But the OPLC yesterday revealed Spurs had sent them a “letter before action” – the first step on the road towards asking for a judge to look into the lawfulness of the committee’s decision to rule in favour of West Ham in a judicial review.
Niland fails to advance again
TENNIS:Conor Niland's recent run of disappointing results has continued in the ATP Challenger Tour event in St Brieuc, France.
In the wake of losing to Britain’s 375-ranked Daniel Evans in the opening round of last weeks’ corresponding tournament in Bath, England, 139-ranked Niland, the number four seed, yesterday came up short at the same stage against the Czech Republic’s 223-ranked Dusan Lojda on a 6-4 6-3 scoreline.
One break of serve in each set proved sufficient for Niland’s 23-year-old left-handed opponent, number eight in the Czech national rankings, to clinch a place in the second round of the Brittany indoor clay event.
The Limerick man has won just two of his 10 matches on the ATP Challenger Tour this year.
