Other sports news in brief
Neptune record their first win
BASKETBALL:Neptune registered their first win of the Nivea For Men's SuperLeague campaign with a 17-point win away to a Moycullen side who also suffered defeat to Killester this weekend. UCC Demons maintained their perfect start to the season with a win away to Ulster Elks, UL Eagles accounted for UCD/Marian and DCU Saints secured a massive 93-59 win over Belfast Star.
Neptune head coach Pat Price paid tribute to his side’s resilience after they emerged from their trip to Moycullen with a 90-73 win.
After a close first-half battle, the Cork side’s defence excelled, with just a meagre 29 points conceded after the restart.
Meanwhile, in the IrishSport.TV Women’s SuperLeague, reigning champions Team Montenotte Hotel Cork comfortably saw off the challenge of Sligo All Stars, while UL and Killester overcame Tolka Rovers and Bausch Lomb Wildcats respectively. DCU Mercy gained their first win of the season, beating Meteors 72-50.
O'Connor completes double at French show
EQUESTRIAN:Cian O'Connor completed a notable double at the French World Cup show in Lyon on Saturday night when partnering Aileen Bryan's Rancorrado to victory in the jump-off competition.
The Meath-based rider, who landed the first major international class of the show on Friday with Complete, displayed all his skill against the clock on Bryan’s 11-year-old Corrado gelding to beat compatriot Cameron Hanley, riding Southwind VDL, into second place in the 14-horse jump-off.
Out of luck in yesterday’s FEI Rolex world cup qualifier won by Switzerland’s Beat Mandli on Louis, 29-year-old O’Connor was otherwise delighted with his weekend’s efforts. “With so many of the world’s top riders here, a double like this is extremely satisfying,” he said.
“Rancorrado is a classy horse. He jumped clear in the Nations’ Cup at Calgary six weeks ago and I gave him a bit of a break after that. This is his first major show since then.”
Germany-based Jessica Kürten and Denis Lynch also competed at Lyon, the former taking third place in Saturday night’s GPA Masters on Lady Georgina Forbes’s mare Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois, with Lynch filling the same place in yesterday’s speed class on All Inclusive NRW.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, there was an Irish victory at Syracuse in New York State when 21-year-old Darragh Kenny won Saturday’s World Cup qualifier on Obelix. Co Down’s Dermott Lennon finished fourth with Woods Rosbotham’s Hallmark Elite.
Serena defeats Venus in Doha final
TENNIS:Serena Williams claimed a fourth successive win over sister Venus to triumph at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha yesterday. Serena, who was guaranteed to end the season as world number one, eased to a 6-2 7-5 (7/4) victory.
She wasted little time taking the first set but had to dig deeper in the second before winning the tie-break to go 13-10 up on Venus in professional meetings between the pair.
Venus had a battle on her hands to make the final, coming from a set down to sneak past Jelena Jankovic on Saturday when Serena had a much easier time, thanks to Caroline Wozniacki’s mid-match retirement because of a leg injury.
Yesterday, Serena posted a succession of service returns and rarely needed to get out of a canter – with long rallies a rare occurrence – as she closed out the first set with ease as Venus rarely appeared capable of testing her sister.
