Sports digest

More sports news in brief.

Evans' Beijing place confirmed

BADMINTON:Irish badminton champion Scott Evans received confirmation yesterday that he has been awarded a place in the singles event in the Olympic Games, reaching the qualifying standard with a world ranking of 43, writes Mary Hannigan.

Badminton Ireland will, therefore, recommend the 20-year-old Dubliner to the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) for inclusion in the Irish team for Beijing. "It has been a long hard road for me and it's a road that sometimes was difficult but all the time was worth the struggle," said Evans who climbed more than 50 places in the world rankings since being awarded a Beijing Olympic Scholarship two years ago by the OCI.

After leaving Wesley College in 2005 Evans, from Dundrum, became a full-time badminton player, moving to Denmark to train at the International Badminton Academy before joining Premier League club Gentofte as a professional.

Cavendish proves quickest in Giro group sprint

CYCLING:Irish professional Philip Deignan (Ag2r La Mondiale) finished as part of the main bunch on yesterday's fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia from Pizzo Calabro to Catanzaro Lungomare, writes Shane Stokes. The stage was won by Mark Cavendish (Team High Road), who proved quickest in the big bunch gallop to the line. Deignan was 96th and was classified in the same time as Cavendish.

Italian rider Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) remains one second clear in the overall standings. Deignan is 64th overall, one minute and 50 seconds back.

Meanwhile Nicolas Roche showed he is coming into some very good form when he finished 15th overall in a two-day classic in Spain over the weekend.

The young Irish professional was 17th on the first stage, then placed 11th in the large group sprint on stage two. He was then an excellent second in the big sprint which decided the final stage.

Splaine names Nations Cup teams

EQUESTRIAN:The Ireland teams for this weekend's Nations' Cup competitions in Madrid and Copenhagen, neither part of the Super League, were named yesterday by senior show jumping team manager Robert Splaine, writes Margie McLoone. The Madrid team features Cameron Hanley and Marion Hughes, who were on the Super League squad for the first three rounds but did not compete in La Baule last Friday.

They are joined by Cian O'Connor, on either Complete or Rancorrado, and Captain David O'Brien with Mo Chroi or Kiltoom. The Copenhagen team sees Shane Breen and Littlear named alongside Francis Connors and Merlins Magic, Neil Fearon and Teulada and Niall Talbot with Tequi d'I CH.

Sorenstam to retire from tour

GOLF:Two days after achieving the 90th professional victory of her career Sweden's Annika Sorenstam has announced she intends to retire at the end of this season.

The 37-year-old, whose €13.87 million earnings from the US women's tour are €5 million more than anyone else, has won three times already this year. But she said she is to "step away" from competitive play and will concentrate on business interests. She is also getting married again next April.