A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Plucky Irish give Germany a scare
SQUASH: Ireland came very close to spoiling the party for the home nation yesterday as they went down 1-2 to Germany in the opening match of The World Men's Team Squash Championships.
First up was Derek Ryan against Jens Schoor with a fully sold-out crowd cheering on the home nation. Ryan took the first set 11/8 after an impressive display of backhand dropshots which the German could not answer.
Ryan took the second 11/6 after winning nine points in a row from 3-0 down and closed out victory by 11/8 to complete an impressive personal display.
Simon Rosner, rated 30th in the world, proved too strong for Arthur Gaskin who was winning his 63rd cap. The German took the first and second 11/5 11/2 in 25 minutes and, though Gaskin fought back hard in the third set, eventually prevailed 11/8.
In the crunch tie, Ulsterman Steve Richardson fought bravely against Andre Haschker before succumbing 11/9, 14/12 and 11/8.
Ogier denies Loeb in German Rally
MOTOR SPORT:World champion Sebastien Loeb was denied a ninth successive win in the Rally of Germany when he was beaten by fellow Citroen driver Sebastien Ogier yesterday.
Loeb was unable to recover after suffering a puncture which cost him more than one minute in the final stage of Saturday’s racing.
“It cannot be perfect every year,” said Frenchman Loeb.
“It’s what I’ve said every year – one day it will stop. We did a good rally. We were a bit unlucky yesterday and there was nothing we could do about that.”
Ogier completed the three days of racing with an overall time of three hours 32 minutes 15.9 seconds, 39 seconds ahead of Loeb.
Spain’s Dani Sordo was third, nearly two minutes further back.
Loeb kept his lead in the world championship while Ogier, whose win was his fourth of the season, moved into second place ahead of Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen.
Martin and Roche to the fore in Spain
CYCLING:Irish duo Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) and Nicolas Roche (Ag2r la Mondiale) both finished in the main bunch on yesterday's second stage of the Vuelta a España, being classed in the same time as the sprint victor Chris Sutton (Sky Procycling) writes Shane Stokes.
Sutton judged his finishing effort perfectly, outkicking Vicente Reynes (Omega Pharma Lotto) to the line in Playas de Orihuela. Roche was 23rd, with Martin close by in 31st place.
The Irish riders got their races underway on Saturday in the 13.5 kilometre team time trial in Benidorm. Martin’s Garmin-Cervélo team finished a solid ninth out of 22 squads, having said beforehand that the main priority was to stay safe on the dangerous course rather than take risks to gain time. It was 25 seconds off the winning time, with Roche’s Ag2r la Mondiale squad a more distant 19th.
Botha’s injury another concern for Munster coach
RUGBY: Springbok BJ Botha will miss the start of the RaboDirect Pro12, leaving Munster coach Tony McGahan even more anxiously awaiting the announcement today of Ireland’s World Cup squad.
Botha, a World Cup winner in 2007, suffered a calf tear less than half an hour into his Munster debut against Wasps on Friday night.
The extent of the injury has not been established but a Munster spokesperson confirmed that the 31-year-old tighthead, who signed from Ulster, will definitely miss the start of the RaboDirect Pro on Friday week when the champions entertain Newport Gwent Dragons.
However, there is better news on James Coughlan who suffered an eye injury in the 15-0 loss to Wasps, with the backrower unlikely to miss any game time.
Meanwhile, Munster coach McGahan has praised Peter Stringer’s professionalism for the way he has handled his World Cup disappointment.
Stringer played his second pre-season game for Munster against Wasps and McGahan said he is taking his World Cup omission in his stride.
“Peter has been disappointed with the World Cup selection as have a few other guys. But he has come back in and kept his head held high and that is why he is held in such high esteem with the fans and within Munster rugby.
“He is such a professional, he gets on with his business and we expect nothing less from him,” said McGahan.
Ireland claim silver medal
EQUESTRIAN:Ireland's young rider team won silver at the European eventing championships in Blair Castle, Scotland yesterday with 18-year-old David Hannigan from Fethard claiming individual bronze on the 15-year-old gelding Red Baron, writes Margie McLoone.
Peter Hannigan (21) finished fifth on First Mate with teammates Melanie Young (Riverstown Express) and Alex Donohoe (Ardfry Baringa) finishing in 18th and 36th places respectively.
Ireland’s individual riders, Alex Houston (Missey Elliot) and Shane Power (TLB Interactive), finished ninth and 11th. Team gold went to Britain with the solo title going to Germany’s Freya Fullgraebe.
In show jumping, Peter Smyth won yesterday’s round of the TRM national Grand Prix league at Boswell on Mary Barron’s Hermione IV while on Saturday, Michael Duffy was crowed Pegus young rider champion with a final round success on Killard Horizon.
Murray claims Djokovic’s scalp
TENNIS:Andy Murray yesterday inflicted a second defeat of the season on world number one Novak Djokovic to claim the Western Southern Open crown in Cincinnati.
The Scot was always in control against a fatigued Djokovic whose record for the season dropped to 57-2 when he was forced to retire when trailing 6-4 3-0.
The reason for Djokovic’s withdrawal was initially unclear although he had received treatment at the end of the first set for an upper arm problem.
Egan finishes ninth in K1 500 metres
CANOEING: Ireland's Jenny Egan finished ninth in the B Final of the K1 500m at the Canoe Slalom World Championships in Szeged in Hungary on Saturday, writes Liam Gorman.
The Kildare woman set a new personal best time of 1:52.768 which placed her 18th overall, outside likely Olympic qualification placings.
Neil Fleming finished fifth in the B Final of the men’s K1 500m, and Egan concluded her programme yesterday with a 15th placing in the K1 5,000m.
