Other sports stories in brief
Hatton looking for 'ultimate prize'
BOXING:Ricky Hatton insists he will be competing for the "ultimate prize" when he meets pound-for- pound king Manny Pacquiao inLas Vegas on May 2nd.
It will be Hatton’s second tilt at a fighter regarded as the best in the world following Hatton’s failed attempt to dethrone Floyd Mayweather Jr in December, 2007.
On this occasion Hatton will be operating at his more natural weight of light-welter and the popular Mancunian suspects he will end the contest at the MGM Grand early.
Pacquiao defied boxing logic to hammer Oscar De La Hoya over eight brutally one-sided rounds last December, but Hatton insists he will be even bigger than the American great. “I’m looking for the pound for pound title and that will be a little bit of history. I’m going for the ultimate prize,” he said.
“I’ve never lost at 140lbs. I’ll be in the ring at 154lbs, Oscar was 147lbs. That’s half a stone difference that Manny will have to deal with. My boxing ability and hand speed that I have now make me very confident.”
McConvey collects under-23 prize
CYCLING:Irish mountainbiker Connor McConvey had a strong performance in Sunday's Maremma Cup MTB race in Italy, finishing 11th out of 110 and taking the under-23 first prize, writes Shane Stokes.
The Felt International competitor ended the race seven minutes and 19 seconds behind the victor Marco Aurelio Fontana and six minutes 40 seconds off the time of Fontana’s team-mate Roel Paulissen.
He was the dominant winner of the under-23 classification. After nearly two hours of racing, he was three minutes and 16 seconds ahead of runner-up Samuele Porro and a full nine minutes 11 seconds in front of Johannes Schweiggl.
Meanwhile, former triple world champion Oscar Freire has pulled out of the Milan-San Remo and Tirreno-Adriatico races with fractured ribs, his Rabobank team said yesterday.
Britain and Ireland teams prepare for Davis Cup ties
TENNIS:Andy Murray's withdrawal from Britain's Davis Cup team yesterday has left captain John Lloyd with a selection poser ahead of the meeting with Ukraine later this week.
Murray pulled out of the Europe/Africa Zone second-round clash after failing to shake off a virus that ended his run at last week’s Dubai Tennis Championships.
The absence of the world number four will not come as a major shock to Lloyd who, fearing such an eventuality, named two reserves in the group to contest the tie in Glasgow starting on Friday.
Either James Ward or Colin Fleming will replace Murray in the line-up, which also features doubles specialist Ross Hutchins and Davis Cup debutants Josh Goodall and Chris Eaton. Goodall, the world number 196, and Eaton, ranked 390, got the nod after impressing during last week’s six-man Davis Cup play-offs in Roehampton.
Dan Evans and Alex Slabinsky missed the cut after failing to shine in the play-offs – which were convened after British number two Alex Bogdanovic was dropped owing to his dismal Davis Cup record.
Ireland’s Davis Cup team will play Algeria in the Euro/Africa Zone Group II clash this weekend.
The strong Irish squad – which includes Conor Niland, Louk Sorensen, Colin O’Brien, James McGee and team captain Seán Sorensen – will meet the host country at the Office du Complexe Olympique Mohamed Boudiaf venue in Algiers this Friday.
Isinbayeva to retire in 2013
POLE VAULT:Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva wants to retire after the 2013 world championships in Moscow. "I plan to finish there in front of my home crowd and I plan to succeed there," the world record holder from Russia said. "I will retire after 2013."
Isinbayeva, who vaulted 5.05 metres in last years Olympics, said she could go as high as 5.30m before she quit.
“My bar must be higher than 5.20 . . . and 5.30 is possible. I will try to achieve this.”
O'Neal hits 33 against Lakers
BASKETBALL:Phoenix centre Shaquille O'Neal scored 33 points against his former team as the Suns turned back the Los Angeles Lakers 118-111 on Sunday, despite 49 points from Kobe Bryant.
O’Neal, who once teamed with Bryant to lead the Lakers to three successive NBA championships, backed up a 45-point performance against Toronto on Friday for his first consecutive 30-point games since 2004. “It’s what I do,” 36-year-old O’Neal said. “I’ve been doing it since 1992. The only time I don’t play well is when I’m injured.”
Lakers centre Pau Gasol, who had 30 points, said the Toronto game had given O’Neal confidence. “If Shaq is feeling well and his legs are responding and plays loose out there, he can still be a force like he’s proven the last two games.”
“Good win, but it’s still just one win,” said Alvin Gentry, who is 6-2 as Phoenix head coach.
“We made too many mental mistakes,” Bryant said after the 96th 40-point game of his career.
GAA talk to GPA about recognition
GAELIC GAMES:Discussions between the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and the GAA to formally recognise the players organisation are ongoing, according to GAA president Nickey Brennan.
Brennan was speaking last night at the Leinster GAA Convention in Kinnegad and says time is running out to give formal recognition to the GPA under his term of office.
The issue of the GPA was raised earlier and yes, it is one of my aims before I finish to see that recognition takes place. But I would be telling a lie if I didn’t accept that time is running out, he said.
“A lot of discussions have taken place recently and they are at a delicate stage, so I don’t intend going into them tonight.
“I have to say that time is tight at this stage but there is certainly goodwill on both sides, discussions that have taken place have been frank but very fair and I have been very happy how they have developed.”
