Sports digest

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

Mixed results for Irish as Youth Olympics kick off

YOUTH OLYMPICS: Yesterday’s opening day of the European Youth Olympics in Trabzon, Turkey, saw mixed results for the Ireland track and field and swimming hopefuls.

St Mary’s Macroom track star Gráinne Moynihan achieved a personal best in her 400 metres heat with a time of 55.31 but missed out on a final spot by one place.

Greg O’Shea (Crescent College, Limerick) finished third in his 100m heat in a time of 10.95 and moved into the semi-final.

Ireland’s young swimming squad went into action early, with Luke Fitzgibbon (Good Counsel New Ross) just missing out on a place in the 200m backstroke final, yet then taking the gold in the B final with a superb swim.

Mary-Kate McDowell (Bangor SC) finished third in her 400m freestyle heat, and Brian O’Sullivan (NAC Abbotstown) achieved a personal best in the 100m freestyle.

Clodagh Flood (Tallaght Swim Team) finished 16th in the 100m butterfly.

Almost 4,000 athletes from 49 countries are competing at the Games, an event widely regarded as a stepping stone to the senior Olympic Games. Ireland is represented with a squad of over 50 athletes in five sports.

Player deal ends NFL lockout

AMERICAN FOOTBALL: The National Football League and players agreed to terms yesterday to end their four-month-old lockout and ensure America’s most popular sport will go ahead next season.

The players must still ratify their decision with a formal vote once the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) reforms, but that is now just a formality after the feuding sides agreed to a multi-billion dollar, 10-year deal.

Local media said teams were expected to open their doors and allow players to resume training this week while the free agency period will also commence.

The league’s 32 team owners voted 31-0 last week, with the Oakland Raiders abstaining, in support of a new collective bargaining agreement they hoped would resolve their bitter dispute and ensure the 2011 season proceeds.

But the deal was dependent on the support of the players, who spent days reviewing the proposal before signing off.

Stoner back to winning ways

MOTOR SPORT: Casey Stoner moved 20 points clear in the MotoGP standings with his victory at Laguna Seca in California.

The Australian seized the lead with six laps to go and pulled away at the head of the field thereafter, eventually finishing over five seconds clear of title rival Jorge Lorenzo, who had started from pole position.

Lorenzo led from the start on his Yamaha but was pursued by a chasing pack of Hondas, which diminished in number when the unpredictable Marco Simoncelli crashed from fifth place.

Dani Pedrosa initially led the pursuit of his fellow Spaniard but it was Stoner who made the breakthrough on lap 26 and was untroubled in claiming a fifth win of the year.

Pedrosa completed the podium in third ahead of Ben Spies.

Stoner said after the race: “We felt good, really good, at the end.

“It’s really good to come back with a race like this and show everybody that we can still win.”

Hynes beaten in last-16

BOXING: Caoimhin Agyarko Hynes bowed of the AIBA World Junior Championships at the last-16 stage in Kazakhstan yesterday.

The Holy Trinity BC Belfast featherweight lost out 12-9 to Aliyov Noraliev of Uzbekistan at the Sports Palace in Astana.

John Nevin, John Stokes and Martin Conroy will all be involved in last-16 duels in the Kazakh capital this afternoon.

Nevin meets India’s Kumar Naveen and Stokes faces Scotland’s Samuel Ball, while Conroy clashes with Egypt’s Amir Elsaey.

Isinbayeva to compete in worlds

ATHLETICS: Olympic champion and pole vault record holder Yelena Isinbayeva will compete at next month’s world championships despite suffering a hand injury last week.

Isinbayeva, who had returned to competition this year after an 11-month break, was forced to pull out of a meeting in Lucerne last Thursday after the Russian injured her wrist.

“I spoke to Yelena shortly after her injury and she told me not too worry too much,” Russian official Valentin Balakhnichyov said yesterday.

“She said it’s a minor one and she should be fine in the next few days.”

The 29-year-old would next compete at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm on Friday, Balakhnichyov added.

“I’ve talked to her coach Yevgeny Trofimov and he confirmed the injury would not disrupt her training too much,” he said.

Balkakhnichyov said Isinbayeva had something to prove in Daegu, South Korea after failing to record a height in the 2009 world outdoor championships final in Berlin and finishing out of the medals at last year’s world indoor championships in Doha.

“She wants to show all her rivals that she’s back to her best. We’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.

Fish retains Atlanta title

TENNIS: World number nine Mardy Fish saved two match points in recording a 3-6 7-6 6-2 victory over fellow American John Isner to defend his Atlanta Championship title on Sunday.

In a repeat of last year’s final, American number one Fish was deep in trouble in the second set tiebreak when he trailed 5-1 and 6-4.

But he reeled off four straight points to take the match into a decider at the racquet Club of the South.