Sports Digest

A round-up of other sports news in brief...

Railway's victory opens league race

CRICKET: Railway Union threw the race for the Leinster Senior League wide open yesterday with a 19-run victory over Section A leaders Merrion at Anglesea Road, writes Emmet Riordan.

Tom Fisher continued his fine season with the bat, contributing 91 as Railway posted 240 for six from their 50 overs after being put into bat by the home side.

There were also valuable contributions from Conor Mullen (62), while Trent Johnston and Mohammed Tariq hit out late on as Railway added 59 runs.

Disciplined bowling restricted Merrion to 113 for four in the 34th over, but a fifth-wicket partnership of 75 between Matt Petrie and Damien Poder put them in position to complete the chase. Greg Lambert had other ideas and he took three wickets in two overs.

The result moves Railway up to second spot, five points behind Merrion, with the two sides completing their campaigns tomorrow when they meet in the return fixture at Park Avenue.

Doherty on form in Shanghai

SNOOKER: Ken Doherty reached his first ranking quarter-final in over two years by edging Barry Hawkins in a final-frame decider courtesy of breaks of 50 and 52 at the Shanghai Masters yesterday.

Next up for Doherty is former world champion Shaun Murphy, who was in stunning form as he took just 76 minutes to whitewash Jamie Cope, including breaks of 106 and 133 in the rout.

Defending champion Ricky Walden stormed into the quarter-finals with a 5-1 demolition of Stephen Hendry. The 26-year-old raced into a 4-0 lead over the veteran former world champion and although Hendry – who had already recovered from that deficit to win this week – pulled one back, Walden kept his nerve.

In last eight Walden will meet home hero Liang Wenbo, who produced some stunning form to whitewash former world finalist Ali Carter 5-0.

Death of Sligo footballer Stenson

GAELIC GAMES: The death has taken place of former Sligo footballer Johnny Stenson, who was a member of the Sligo team that won the Connacht championship in 1975.

Stenson (55) went on to be joint manager of the Sligo senior team in the mid-1990s and was joint manager of the St John’s club in Sligo at the time of his death.

As a mark of respect, Sunday’s scheduled county semi-final between St John’s and Tourlestrane has been postponed.

Stenson will be buried in his native Curry following funeral mass in St Anne’s Church, Sligo tomorrow.

He is survived by his wife Catherine, daughter Gráinne and son Shane, a member of the Sligo senior football panel.

Hip injury hinders Cooper's training

GAELIC GAMES: Colm Cooper’s participation in Sunday week’s All-Ireland football final appears to be some doubt. Cooper injured his hip before Kerry’s semi-final meeting with Meath but played with the aid of a painkilling injection.

The injury has seemingly flared up again and is restricting his participation in training.

Good news, though, for Jack OConnor is Kieran Donaghy is back playing football and has played in two trial games.

Meanwhile, in a marked departure from the long tradition of allowing the public to watch them train, supporters who have tried to gain entry to the Fitzgerald Stadium have found the gates locked.

And the open day on the Saturday week prior to the All-Ireland final has also been curtailed. This Saturday, autograph-hunting youngsters will not enjoy the access to their county heroes which they enjoyed in previous years because of the threat of swine flu.

Instead, it is intended to present each child with a pack which will include pen pictures of the squad, autographed by each panel member.

Big Irish entry at European eventing championships

EQUESTRIAN: This weekend the junior and young rider European eventing championships are being held in Waregem and Ireland is well represented in both, with teams and individuals competing, writes Margie Mcloone.

All horses passed yesterday’s first inspection at the Belgian racecourse with Horse Sport Ireland’s performance manager Captain Brian MacSweeney then announcing the composition of the teams and order of running.

Rachel Power (TLB Interactive) leads off in juniors, followed by Lauren Persse (Darragh Promise), David Hannigan (Red Baron) and Michelle Kenny (Golden Orphan). Lucy Hanna (Sunny Dun) and Daisy Grehan (Whitefort Phantom) will ride as individuals.

In the young riders’ championship, Peter Hannigan will be the trail blazer with First Mate, followed by Ruth Robinson (Tamino 202), Brian Morrison (Dances With Wolves) and Camilla Speirs (Portersize Just A Jiff). Kate Harrington competes as an individual with Jantar.

There will be two days of dressage, starting this morning, followed by cross-country action on Sunday, with show jumping on Monday. According to MacSweeney, time penalties could become an issue on the cross-country phase as the tracks are tightly measured.

Irish senior event riders are competing in international horse trials at Blenheim Palace and Osberton in Britain this weekend, while the show jumpers are in action at five star level in Spruce Meadows, Canada; at the four-star venues Paderborn, Germany and Chantilly, France; at two Italian three-star shows in Arezzo and Pinerolo and also at three-star level in Humlikon, Switzerland.

At home, the main show jumping action will centre on the national Grand Prix at Iverk show on Sunday for which there are 27 horses declared.

Rheinish starts Canoe Slalom world bid today  

CANOEING: Eoin Rheinisch, whose fourth place at the Olympics made him one of Ireland’s top performers in Beijing, starts his Canoe Slalom World Championship campaign today at La Seu D’Urgell in Spain, writes Liam Gorman.

The 30-year-old Dubliner competes in the men’s K1 (racing kayak) heats today. He has had a mixed season, with the highlight being a sixth-place finish at the World Cup in Augsburg in Germany last month.

However, he has had some of his best results at this course – he won the World Cup there in 2004 – and has targeted a good result in this event since he made to decision to devote himself to the new Olympic cycle.

The first two of Ireland’s five-strong team went into action yesterday. Hannah Craig finished 37th and Helen Barnes 48th in the women’s K1. Only the first 20 go through to Sunday’s semi-finals and finals.

The qualification route is similar for Ireland’s two other competitors in the K1 class today, Ciarán Heurteau and Neil Caffrey.

The best of two heats is counted. Rheinisch, Heurteau and Caffrey represent Ireland in the K1 team event tomorrow.

Back in Ireland, the Irish Open for Canoe Polo will be held in Galway this weekend.

CANOE SLALOM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, Day One (Irish interest) K1 Women (Best of two rounds taken; top 20 go to semi-final) – 37, H Craig (first heat 109.13 seconds; second heat 107.98; 11.65 behind leader); 48, H Barnes (first heat 117.82 (2 second penalty), second heat 115.48; 19.15 behind leader).