Sports Digest

A round-up of today's other Sports stories in brief...

Spain win third Davis Cup

TENNIS:Spain overcame the absence of world number one Rafael Nadal to win the Davis Cup for the third time yesterday when Fernando Verdasco beat Jose Acasuso to give them a 3-1 win over Argentina in the final.

Verdasco, brought in to replace Spain's off-form number one David Ferrer, won 6-3 6-7 4-6 6-3 6-1 to hand Argentina their third defeat in three final appearances and their first home loss for 10 years.

Verdasco had himself been overlooked for Friday's opening singles but earned himself a chance by winning Saturday's doubles alongside Feliciano Lopez.

Acasuso, ranked 48th, was thrown into the fray after Argentina's number one Juan Martin del Potro was ruled out with a pulled muscle in his right leg which he suffered in Friday's defeat to Lopez. "It's a dream. I've wanted this chance since I was a boy, few get it and even fewer take it," said an elated Verdasco.

Argentina, whose unbeaten home run stretched back 13 matches, had begun as firm favourites but their chances nose-dived when Del Potro was surprisingly beaten by Lopez on Friday and injured his leg in the process. A win in Saturday's doubles then put the visitors in the driving seat and the news that Del Potro would not play yesterday was another blow. The International Tennis Federation said the dead fifth rubber would not be played.

Acasuso started nervously and lost his serve in the fifth game after three unforced errors in quick succession. Acasuso went to pieces after Verdasco broke in the sixth game of the fourth set to level the match.

With his opponent looking tired and demoralised, Verdasco strolled through the final set, wrapping up the match with a rasping forehand down the line. "In the Davis Cup, you have to fight to the death and you always have to keep your hope of winning. This mental strength helped me win the match," Verdasco said. Details in Sports Round-Up

Award for Bolt 

ATHLETICS:Olympic champions Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia were named 2008 World Athletes of the Year at the World Athletics Gala in Monte Carlo yesterday.

Bolt (22) captured three gold medals at the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, winning the 100 and 200 metres and running the third leg on the victorious 4x100m relay.

His run of 9.69 seconds in the 100 and 19.30 in the 200 were world records, as was the 37.10 performance by the Jamaican relay squad.

Emphatic victory for Taylor 

BOXING:Ireland's Katie Taylor began her World title defence by forcing Australian lightweight Emma Carruthers into two standing counts en route to recording an emphatic 20-3 preliminary round victory at the Fifth AIBA Women's World Championships at the Ningbo Youngor Gymnasium in Ningbo City, China on Saturday. The Bray woman will now meet Danusa Dilhofova in the last 16 tomorrow morning four fights away from retaining the 60Kg title she won in New Delhi in 2006.

Taylor's father and coach Petersaid that she wasn't happy with her performance. He said: "Katie felt she could have boxed better, but it was her first fight of the tournament and the important thing is that she won. Dilhofova will be a tough opponent on Tuesday as she is physically strong and experienced. Details in Sports Round-Up

Team Ireland's Carroll wins A1 Grand Prix in Malaysia

MOTOR SPORT:Adam Carroll scored a dominant victory for Team Ireland in yesterday's A1 Grand Prix feature race in Malaysia. Ireland is the only country to win two races in the current World Cup of Motorsport series, and lead the championship after three rounds by eight from Portugal, writes Brian Foley.

Carroll led from pole and the Ulsterman maintained his lead throughout the 34 laps race run in torrid heat on the Sepang GP circuit near Kuala Lumpur. Carroll built up a 15 seconds lead before his first pit stop and the Irish crew did a fantastic job to get him back on the track with a five seconds lead over Portuguese driver Felipe Albuquerque.

In the second pit stop, Team Ireland kept up its reputation of being one of the best crews in the pit lane with another lightening stop to keep Carroll in the lead which he held all the way to the chequered flag to win by 15.996 seconds from Albuquerque. Marco Andretti was third for the US, ahead of Australia's John Martin, Adrian Zaugg of South Africa and Earl Bamber of New Zealand.

Carroll was fifth in the sprint race which had to be restarted after a big pile up which eliminated Andretti. Carroll won the sprint race and was second in the feature race in the recent last round of the series in China. He also set the fastest lap in Malaysia of 183.8 km/h in his Ferrari powered car. The next two championship rounds are at Taipu, New Zealand, on January 25th, 2009. Details in Sports Round-Up

India take unassailable lead

CRICKET:India grabbed crucial wickets in the final overs to win the rain-hit fourth one-dayer against England by 19 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method yesterday to take an unbeatable 4-0 lead in the seven-match series in Bangalore.

India's left-arm bowler Zaheer Khan dismissed Owais Shah for 72 and fast bowler Ishant Sharma sent back Andrew Flintoff for 41 in successive overs in the final powerplay to derail England's spectacular chase of a revised target of 198. The pair had put on 82 off just 48 balls for the fourth wicket after a slow start by the tourists.

Put in to bat in overcast conditions, India made 166 for four in the allotted 22 overs after the innings was twice interrupted by rain. Aggressive opener Virender Sehwag lashed his second successive half century (69) and shared in a 79-run second-wicket stand with Gautam Gambhir (40) to give India a solid start.