SPORTS DIGEST

Today's other stories in brief

Murphy retires Brave Inca

RACING:Colm Murphy hailed Brave Inca as "one in a million" after announcing the retirement of the 2006 Champion Hurdle winner.

Connections have decided to call time on the popular 11-year-old’s career following a below-par run at Punchestown last week.

The 10-time Grade One-winning gelding, owned by the Novices Syndicate, was last of the nine finishers behind Fiveforthree in the World Series Hurdle.

“It definitely was a tough decision to make,” said the Co Wexford trainer.

“He’s been some servant to us. But after the last day, we know he’s had his fair share of little problems and all the wear and tear. So after speaking to the owners, the vets and everyone concerned, I think it was the right thing to do.

“He’s been one in one million and we’ve had some fantastic days with him.”

Ward and Reilly claim gold

BOXING:Irish amateur boxing achieved another notable first after Joe Ward and Michael Reilly claimed Ireland's first ever gold medals at the prestigious ten-nation Heydar Aliyev Cup in Azerbaijan yesterday.

Irish captain Ward and Reilly both finished first past the post in Baku and were also presented with cheques for €525 each.

Ward, from the Moate club in Westmeath, beat Georgian light middleweight Sekhnias Nikoloz 4-0 and Reilly, of the Drimnagh club in Dublin, edged out Turkish light welter Burhan Aksay 7-6.

Ward, Reilly and Chris Mullaly, who will be taking home bronze from Baku, have now staked strong claims for selection on the Irish side for the AIBA World Junior Championships in Armenia later this month.

Strauss has a go at tardy arrival of Windies captain

CRICKET:England captain Andrew Strauss senses his opposite number, Chris Gayle, may have crossed the line with his late arrival for the first Test, which starts at Lord's today.

Strauss himself will be leading Indian Premier League players who arrived back from the Twenty20 tournament in South Africa only late last week, not that far ahead of the West Indies captain.

But Strauss makes a distinction between those circumstances and Gayle’s appearance barely 48 hours before the first ball of a two-match series is due to be bowled.

“Certainly, we wouldn’t want our players to arrive two days before,” he spelled out. “We are trying to avoid going too far over that line. That is an important thing.”

'Queen of the Fairways' Philomena Garvey, dies age 83

GOLF:She was known, simply, as "The Queen of the Fairways". And, throughout a career that spanned four decades, Philomena Garvey – whose death occurred yesterday at the age of 83 – proved to be the greatest player of her generation, amassing a record 15 Irish Women's Close Championships and one British Ladies Amateur Open Championship, writes Philip Reid.

She represented Ireland from 1947 through to 1969 and played in six Curtis Cups, a record unlikely to be equalled.

Born in 1926 a mere wedge shot away from the links at Baltray, Garvey spent her childhood playing the game ’til dusk fell, and also learned her craft as a caddie to Clarrie Reddan. She won her first Leinster title as a 19-year-old in 1946, her first Irish Close the following year and played in her first Curtis Cup in 1948.

Indeed, her record of six Curtis Cup appearances should have been greater. In 1958, she made a stand when the Ladies Golf Union changed the emblem to feature only a Union Jack. Garvey refused to play, and only resumed her Curtis Cup career in 1960 when the original emblem featuring the emblems of all four “home” unions was reinstated.

Of that stand, Garvey remarked: “In my view, nobody could play after me if I didn’t take my stance about the Union Jack, not Mary McKenna or Ita Butler or any other Irishwoman.”

ILGU chief executive Sinead Heraty commented: “Philomena was a fantastic competitor who’s magnificent golf record has left a marvellous legacy in our sport. A very gifted player, she raised Irish women’s golf to a new level and inspired many talented players to achieve their potential. Her contribution to the game was immeasurable.”