Sports digest

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

Scotland prove too strong for Ireland

RUGBY LEAGUE:Ireland and Mark Aston got their International campaign off to a disappointing 26-6 loss to Celtic rivals Scotland.

Scotland opened the scoring with four minutes gone after John Duffy slid the ball through for Alex Hurst who then converted his own try.

Despite falling behind early. Ireland fought back and forced a Scottish error after Paul Handforth kicked for James Haley in the corner.

However, a poor pass in the resulting set hand the Scots possession back and they drove

upfield towards Irish territory. A knock on from Haley gave them another set as they looked to extend their lead.

A high error count hampered proceedings with both sides failing to find their rhythm.

Ireland will now need to regroup ahead of a friendly against Wales in Neath next weekend.

O'Sullivan has another top-five finish

GOLF:Denis O'Sullivan sealed his fifth top-20 finish this year after his two over par 73 in the final round of the Benahavis Senior Masters left him tied 18th at La Quinta Golf and Country Club in Benahavis, Spain, where Carl Mason sealed European Senior Tour title number 25.

O’Sullivan began the day seven shots off the lead but couldn’t push on from his opening rounds of 70 and 71, with bogeys at the second, fourth and 11th holes complimented by only one birdie at the ninth leaving him one over for the tournament to earn him prize money of €2,258.

“It was tough out there today,” said the Corkman afterwards, “there are a lot of positives with my game at the moment but I left a lot of putts so it’s disappointing.”

Mason, meanwhile, claimed his 25th European Senior Tour title after the Englishman’s two under par 69 handed him a three-shot victory over Gary Wolstenholme and Mark James, who tied second.

Shanghai Masters victory seals hat-trick for Murray

TENNIS:Andy Murray heads Roger Federer in the world rankings for the first time after a triumph at the Shanghai Masters gave him his third title already this month.

Murray has exhausted himself over the past three weeks, firstly in thrashing American Donald Young to triumph in Bangkok, then when demolishing Rafael Nadal 6-0 in a deciding set of the Japan Open final, and yesterday in bringing down David Ferrer at the climax of the Shanghai Masters.

He won 7-5 6-4 against Ferrer and will rise to number three in the new world rankings today, nudging in front of Federer who drops out of the top three after eight years.

The 30-year-old from Switzerland has been ever-present since winning the first of his 16 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 2003, but Murray has five titles this year to Federer’s one.

Of course Murray remains without a Grand Slam title to his name, unlike Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal ahead of him and Federer, all multiple winners.

Martin finishes second in Lombardy

CYCLING:Pulling out a superb performance despite being fatigued after a tough end of season, Dan Martin finished second in the Tour of Lombardy on Saturday and shot up the world rankings as a result, writes Shane Stokes.

The Garmin-Cervélo rider jumped from 19th to ninth in the final World Tour standings, the best Irish showing since those rankings were introduced in 2005, and also pulled off the best Irish Classics performance since Sean Kelly won the same race two decades ago.

Martin was quickest of a five-man chase group which finished eight seconds behind the surprise winner, Oliver Zaugg (Leopard Trek).

The Swiss rider jumped clear on the final climb, with Martin leading the chase behind.

“I’ve got real mixed emotions, to be honest,” he told The Irish Times afterwards. “Getting second in a monument (top one day race) is something, but to come so close . . . you could also say if we caught the guy (Zaugg), maybe I would have won the sprint.”

Martin’s performance plus the first and second places achieved by Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan on the recent stage three in the Tour of Beijing ensures that Ireland end the season 13th overall in the WorldTour rankings. That will secure four places for the Olympic road race next summer, a major achievement for a small country.

Stoner wraps up world title

MOTO: Casey Stoner wrapped up the MotoGP world title with victory in his home event at Phillip Island yesterday.

The Australian, already confirmed on pole position, was left needing only a top-six finish after the pre-race withdrawal of title rival Jorge Lorenzo, who suffered a serious finger injury when crashing in the warm-up.

And Stoner rode flawlessly to keep himself out in front, taking victory with Marco Simoncelli second and Andrea Dovizioso third.

It was Stoner’s second MotoGP title – the first coming in 2007 – and came on his 26th birthday. The win represented Honda’s first rider’s title of the 800cc era.

Stoner led from start to finish, ensuring he kept out of trouble as an eventful race unfolded behind him.

Valentino Rossi crashed out with 14 laps remaining.