Sports Digest

Other sports news in brief

Teens shine ahead of Twenty20

CRICKET:Teenagers Paul Stirling and George Dockrell showed the way as Ireland beat a Trinidad XI by nine wickets at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain on Friday night, writes Emmet Riordan.

The result provided a boost to Phil Simmons’s side before their World Twenty20 campaign.

Dockrell, 17, opened the bowling with Boyd Rankin and was rewarded with two wickets upfront in his return of three for 20 from four overs, while Peter Connell claimed two for 19. Stirling blasted 57 runs off 41 balls, while Porterfield was unbeaten on 36 from 44 as Ireland got home with 29 balls to spare.

In the Leinster Senior League Kenny Carroll’s undefeated 105 helped Railway Union defeat defending Clontarf by nine wickets, while Jeremy Bray made 106 as The Hills hammered promoted Malahide by 221 runs in Milverton.

Meanwhile, there will be 13 Leinster teams in the second round of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior cup after Old Belvedere, Rush and Terenure came through round one.

Ballyholme boat weathers well

SAILING:Consistency paid dividends for Belfast Lough helm Gareth Flannigan yesterday in the first regional championship for Ireland's biggest one-design keelboat class, writes David Branigan.

The Ballyholme sailor emerged overall winner of the Mitsubishi Motors Laser SB3 Eastern Championship at the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire with a comfortable nine-point lead.

Flannigan with crew-mates Jeremy Tomalinson and Brian Spence had trailed Howth’s Ben Duncan with Brian Moran and Ric Morris after Saturday’s three races in fresh winds. However, when winds became light and shifty yesterday afternoon, the northern boat maintained form and won overall.

A fleet of 45 boats from 13 clubs competed in the event.

O'Sullivan hits back to set up final-round thriller

SNOOKER:Ronnie O'Sullivan set up a nine-frame shoot-out with Mark Williams tomorrow afternoon to decide the battle of the former champions at the Crucible.

Williams let an 8-6 lead slip away as a fast-paced match reached an 8-8 deadlock at the end of the second session.

The match has not seen a century yet, however tonight three-time former winner O’Sullivan fired in 86, 66 and 72 while Williams, champion in 2000 and 2003, responded with 54, 99, 48, 44 and 43.

Earlier, Stephen Hendry missed a chance to develop a lead against Mark Selby and had to settle for a share of the first eight frames in their second-round clash.

Shaun Murphy trails Ding Junhui 5-3 after the first eight frames of their second round match which, like Hendry’s contest, will continue tomorrow morning and conclude in the evening.

Blaney advances

BOXING:Chris Blaney came from behind to get Ireland's AIBA World Youth campaign off to a flying start with a 10-4 verdict over Benny Muziyo of Zambia in Baku, Azerbaijan, yesterday.

Ryan Burnett and Michael O’Reilly will be in action today against Erik Sokolov of Germany and Shafiq Asif of England respectively.

Monaghan duo extend their lead

MOTOR SPORT:Monaghan's, Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry (Subaru) claimed victory at the Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Rally, the fourth round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship. They finished 26 seconds in front of the Subaru of Derek McGarrity and James McKee, with Welsh pair Mel Evans and Patrick Walsh, also in a Subaru, in third. Gary McPhillips (Escort) won the modified section and Sam Moffett (Mitsubishi) took a tie-break victory in the Group N category.

Rea in contention

MOTOR SPORT:Northern Ireland's Jonathan Rea moved into contention at the sharp end of the FIM Superbike World Championship standings with a superb double victory on a day of British dominance at Assen in Holland.

The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider is now on 110 points in the riders’ standings, 38 behind Haslam.

McCann continues good season

CYCLING:Irish pro David McCann took a stage and the overall classification in the Melaka Governor Cup in Malaysia, writes Shane Stokes.

The Giant Asia rider broke clear alone near the end of Saturday’s opening stage and then finished safely in the main bunch on yesterday’s concluding leg, finishing one second behind the winner Sergey Kudentsov (Polygon Sweet Nice) to take overall victory.

Meanwhile Ireland’s Nicolas Roche placed 22nd in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Classic. He finished 1min 22secs behind controversial winner Alexandre Vinokourov. The winner’s success was not welcomed by many, given that he tested positive for blood doping during the 2007 Tour de France. He returned from a two-year ban last autumn.

Verdasco victory

TENNIS:Fernando Verdasco claimed his second title this year with victory over Robin Soderling in the final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell yesterday.

The fifth seed from Madrid saw off the second-seeded Swede 6-3 4-6 6-3 to ensure there would be a Spanish winner at this event for the eighth straight year.