A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Nocher fails to get out of semis despite Irish record
SWIMMING: Ireland’s Melanie Nocher made the semi-finals of the women’s 100 metres backstroke on day one of the European Short Course (25m) championships at Szczecin, Poland, but failed to advance to the final.
Nocher, who is a 200m backstroke specialist, was 10th fastest after the heats in a time of 59.37 seconds, setting an Irish senior record in the process by 0.51 of a second and beating the previous record of 59.89 seconds set by Aisling Cooney in 2009.
In the semi-final, Nocher again broke the Irish record in 59.30 seconds, but it was only good enough for 15th place overall.
Gráinne Murphy failed to make the final of the women’s 200m butterfly and the 200 Individual medley, where she broke her own Irish record in yesterday morning’s heats in 2.12.71, 0.15 of a second inside the time she set a year ago.
Sehwag record
CRICKET: India’s Virender Sehwag made the highest individual score in one-day international history as he blasted 219 to put West Indies to the sword in Indore yesterday. The 33-year-old passed compatriot Sachin Tendulkar’s previous mark of 200 not out with a dazzling innings that contained 25 fours and seven sixes. It underpinned a mammoth total of 418 for five, leaving the bowlers to dismiss the tourists for 265.
Sweeney targets national title
BOXING: Gary Sweeney will be just one of the exciting new wave of talented young Irish boxers in action when the 2011 National Intermediate Championships finals get under way at Dublin’s National Stadium tomorrow evening.
Sweeney, 18, who claimed silver at the 2011 European Youth Championships in Dublin, meets Donegal cruiserweight Denis O’Donnell over three, three-minute rounds. The Riverstown, Holy Family, Bray and Immaculata clubs in Cork, Drogheda, Wicklow and Belfast have two representatives each in tomorrow’s finals.
Kimmage wins sports book of year
AWARDS: Engage – the fall and rise of Matt Hampson, written by Paul Kimmage, has won the William Hill Irish sports book of the year.
This is the story of former Leicester Tigers prop Matt Hampson who was paralysed from the neck down when a scrum collapsed at an England under-21 training session in 2005.
“Engage is not just my story it is also my family’s, close friends and other people who have been spinally injured,” said Hampson. “Paul and I would like to dedicate this award to the late Stuart Mangan, an inspirational friend of mine who I’m sure as a proud Irishman would have been delighted by this achievement.”
In 1990 Kimmage won the international version of this award for his personal account of doping in professional cycling, entitled A Rough Ride. Engage won the award ahead of runners-up Life, Death and Hurling, by Michael Duignan, and One Hell of a Ride, by Paul Carberry.
