SPORTS DIGEST

A round-up of today's other sports news in brief

Good day for Scots in Beijing

SNOOKER:Graeme Dott and Stephen Hendry claimed impressive victories on a good day for the Scots at the China Open in Beijing yesterday.

John Higgins’ win made it three former world champions from Scotland advancing to the quarter-finals of the last ranking event before the World Championship.

Dott and Hendry have been chasing ranking points after difficult seasons, and their respective wins over Mark Selby and Ricky Walden should ease their concerns.

The 5-1 victory over top-eight star Selby suggests Dott could again be a serious contender for the China title he won in 2007, while Hendry showed his battling qualities to overcome rising star Walden by a 5-4 margin, having trailed 3-1.

Walden won the Shanghai Open title on his previous visit to China.

Brace from O’Dwyer leads Roscrea to Fr Godfrey title

RUGBY:Philip O'Dwyer ran in for two second-half tries and added two conversions to help Cistercian College Roscrea run out 19-6 winners over Kilkenny College in the Fr Godfrey Cup final in Portlaoise.

Kilkenny led 6-0 at the interval, courtesy of two penalties from winger Jeremy Duncan, but Roscrea’s pack took the upper hand in the second half to set the platform for an impressive victory.

A Trevor Higgins break set up O’Dwyer for his first try, and the outside centre also provided the assist for his second with a well-timed pass after some impressive build-up play by the pack.

Soon after, Seán Cody blocked Kilkenny outhalf Evan Kelly, who had only just entered the fray, and he held his nerve well to gather cleanly and touch down under the posts.

O’Dwyer made no mistake with the conversion and the silverware was duly presented to Cistercian captain Ross Enright Mooney.

Scorers:Cistercian College Roscrea: P O'Dwyer (2 tries, 2 cons); B Cody (try) Kilkenny College: J Duncan (2 pens).

CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA:P O'Dwyer; C Brennan, T Higgins, J Ryan, O O'Connell; M Mellotte, G Ryan; O Heffernan, S Moran, A Mackey; R Moloney, A McGrath; F O'Regan, R Enright Mooney, P Bain. Replacements: S Cody for Mackey (h-t); R Hayes for O'Regan (h-t).

KILKENNY COLLEGE:R Nicholls; J Duncan, J Raeburn, J McDowell, C Keane; R Seale, S Morrow; G Condell, R Foot, S Delahunt; J McCarthy, C O'Carroll; J Moynan, H Crowley, R Deacon. Replacements: D Leybourne for Morrow (50); E Kelly for Seale (50).

Referee:D Wallace (ARLB)

August decision on women’s boxing

BOXING: Irish lightweight World Amateur Champion Katie Taylor will know in August if she is to box in the London Olympic Games in 2012, writes Johnny Watterson. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide then whether to include women’s boxing in the schedule.

Following a request by the sport’s world governing body, the IOC said it would make a recommendation to its executive board, which is due to meet in Berlin.

“The programme commission will review this request and make a recommendation to the (IOC) executive board, which is due to take decisions regarding the inclusion of events in August and regarding quotas in December,” said IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau.

The introduction of women’s boxing, rejected in the past because of what the IOC said was a limited global appeal, does not need an IOC session approval, as the sport is already on the Olympic programme.

Hamilton loses Melbourne points

MOTOR SPORT:Lewis Hamilton has been stripped of his third-place finish at last Sunday's Australian Grand Prix after a second investigation into a late-race incident with Toyota's Jarno Trulli ruled the champion and his McLaren team had "provided evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards", writes Justin Hynes.

Hamilton crossed the finish line in Melbourne in fourth place but was subsequently elevated to third after Trulli was handed a 25-second time penalty for passing the McLaren driver under the safety car during the race’s final chaotic laps.

However, the matter was revisited yesterday by stewards in Kuala Lumpur, ahead of this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, after fresh evidence came to light. Following a morning hearing, they issued a statement in ruling that Hamilton and McLaren had “acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event” in contravention of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code and excluded team and driver from the result.

The action means Trulli, once again, will be recorded as the third-placed driver and he and Toyota claim six points for the podium finish.

Following the ruling, a McLaren statement said: “Vodafone McLaren Mercedes understands that the stewards made their decision on the basis of reviewing radio transmissions between the driver and the team.

“The team mistakenly believed that the radio transmissions had been reviewed by the FIA on Sunday, March 29th, 2009, and consequently did not believe it was necessary to discuss them with the stewards on that date.

“Nonetheless, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team now regrets that it did not do so, accepts the stewards’ decision and will not appeal.”

Hearing the news Trulli said the FIA’s turnaround was an unexpected bonus. “I am happy because I just wanted some justice, and I got it,” said the Toyota driver. “I am happy for myself and for the team.”

Rider has drug ban extended

EQUESTRIAN:The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has banned German rider Christian Ahlmann for eight months after his horse tested positive for drugs at the Beijing Olympics.

CAS’s ruling comes after German equestrian chiefs had appealed to extend the four-month doping ban imposed by the International Equestrian Federation.

Ahlmann’s horse Coester tested positive for the banned substance capsaicin.