Other sports news in brief
Norman opts for Ishikawa and Scott
GOLF:Greg Norman has named 17-year-old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa and out-of-form Australian Adam Scott as his two wild cards in the rest of the world squad for the Presidents Cup in San Francisco on October 8th-11th.
American captain Fred Couples, meanwhile, added US Open champion Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan to his 10 automatic qualifiers. Ishikawa won his fifth JapanTour title on Sunday and was yesterday included in the world’s top 50 for the first time.
But Scott has crashed from third in the world to 53rd in just over a year and has missed 10 cuts in his last 15 events.
Norman ignored the claims of four higher-ranked players in Rory Sabbatini, Jeev Milkha Singh, Shingo Katayama and Thongchai Jaidee to choose his compatriot.
Cork manager honoured
SPORTS AWARD:Conor Counihan, manager of the Cork senior football team has been named Philips Sports Manager of the month for August. Munster champions Cork qualified for this year's All-Ireland final with Kerry by deposing of defending champions Tyrone.
Counihan was installed as Cork manager in February, 2008, having been a member of the Cork senior county team from 1981 to 1993.
India suspend camp over age of players
HOCKEY:India have suspended a national camp for under-18 players after medical tests revealed that a majority of the 55 players present were overage. The players were vying for spots in the team for Novembers Asia Cup in Myanmar.
The Indian federation, keen to revive the sport after the eight-time Olympic champions failed to qualify for last years Beijing Games, have made tests mandatory following complaints that many juniors were not declaring their true ages.
In-form Gerrans completes hat-trick of stage victories
CYCLING:Australian Simon Gerrans completed his collection of stage victories in all three of cycling's grand Tours with a win in the Tour of Spain's 10th stage yesterday.
The Cervelo sprinter easily outpaced three other breakaways in the streets of Murcia to clinch the day’s win ahead of Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal, Dane Jakob Fuglsang third and 2006 champion Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan.
“Vinokourov worried me the most, he’s very experienced and was constantly trying to get away in the last kilometres,” the 29-year-old from Melbourne said.
“But obviously I wanted things to come down to a sprint, so I kept on chasing him down. Once we got within sight of the finish, I was pretty sure I was the fastest of the four.” Gerrans, who won stage 14 at this years Tour of Italy and stage 15 at the 2008 Tour de France, said: “This win completes the set. Its like taking a hat-trick in football.
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde finished in the main pack three minutes 42 seconds behind and remains in the overall lead.
Philip Deignan came home in the main bunch placing 36th and finishing in the same time as Valverde. They were three minutes and 42 seconds behind Gerrans.
Deignan remains a fine 22nd overall, six minutes and 12 seconds behind Valverde. Fellow Irish rider Daniel Martin (Garmin Slipstream) finished in a group ten minutes and one second back and dropped from 33rd to 38th overall.
Santander to link up with Ferrari
MOTOR SPORT:The Formula One champions Ferrari are expected to announce Spanish bank Santander as new sponsors today after scheduling a news conference with the Spanish bank at the Italian Grand Prix.
Ferrari said their president Luca di Montezemolo and Santander chairman Emilio Botin would both attend the conference at the Monza circuit.
Spain’s largest bank have backed McLaren since 2007, when Spain’s double world champion Fernando Alonso was with the Mercedes-powered team.
Alonso left McLaren after just one difficult season alongside current champion Lewis Hamilton, returning to Renault for 2008 and 2009, and his imminent move to Ferrari has long been taken for granted in Formula One circles.
Foley takes post on interim basis
ATHLETICS:John Foley has taken up the position of chief executive of Athletics Ireland on an interim basis, writes Ian O'Riordan.
Foley previously served as chief executive of Waterford Crystal for almost nine years – having joined the company initially back in 1991 – before resigning from the position earlier this year.
Athletics Ireland have been without a chief executive for several months after Mary Coghlan was removed from the position in controversial circumstances, following a motion by the Athletics Ireland board.
In the meantime, Coghlan has lodged High Court proceedings against the Irish Sports Council and Athletics Ireland over the nature of her dismissal, and that case is due to be heard next month.
Foley’s appointment is initially for a three-month period to allow time for a more permanent replacement to be found, and at least brings some stability to Athletics Ireland after over 12 months of organisation turmoil.
