SPORTS DIGEST: SAILING:Due to an electrical storm, racing for day two at the Sailing World Championships at Perth, Australia, was cancelled yesterday.     

A return to normal conditions is expected for today and an extra race will be held to return to the schedule. If needed, the reserve day will be used later in the week.

Breen lands International Driver award

MOTOR SPORT: Craig Breen and Eddie Jordan were two of the winners at the Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards in Dublin.

Breen won the International Driver of the Year Award yesterday for his outstanding achievements throughout 2011.

Jordan was presented with the Motorsport Ireland Hall of Fame Award for his contribution to motorsport over the past 40 years.

The Billy Coleman Award for the Young Rally Driver of the Year went to Monaghan’s Sam Moffett while the Dunlop Sexton Trophy for the Young Racing Driver of the Year was awarded to Dubliner Aron Smith.

The Ivan Webb Memorial award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Irish Motorsport went to Tom Walsh, who is a member of the Mayo and District Motorclub.

Olympic hopefuls get events boost

ATHLETICS:A small number of Irish athletes will feel their prospects of qualifying for the London Olympics have been improved after the IAAF yesterday announced amended standards for some events, writes Tom O'Riordan.

The amendments are limited but could make the difference between making the Irish team or not. For example in the men’s 400 metres, the A standard has been eased from 45.25 to 45.30 while the B mark has been eased from 45.70 to 45.90. Alterations have been made in six events. The A marks for the men and women’s 400m, the women’s 5,000m, 400m hurdles, shot putt and for the A mark in the javelin.

The Technical Committee decided to make the changes. No Irish athletes have achieved the A standard in any of these events although it is anticipated that David Gillick, who holds the Irish record at 44.77, will get inside the required 45.30. Brian Gregan was the fastest Irishman during the summer with 45.96.

Tour de France set for Corsica

CYCLING:The Mediterranean island of Corsica will host the first three stages of the 100th Tour de France in 2013. It will be the first time the French island has hosted a stage in the prestigious three-week race.

“For the hundredth edition of the race, we wanted to go somewhere new . . . in Corsica we have all of that.” said race director Christophe Prudhomme.

After the teams’ presentation in Porto-Vecchio, the first stage will see the peloton tackle a 201.5km (125 miles) ride to Bastia which is expected to end in a sprint finish.

A second stage over 153km will travel from Bastia to Ajaccio via Corte and will likely favour the climbers.

The third stage, from Ajaccio to Calvi is 145km long and takes in the famous ruby red rocks around Piana in the northwest of the island.The 2012 race starts on June 30th.

O’Sullivan signals that end is nigh

SNOOKER:Ronnie O'Sullivan bowed out of the williamhill.com UK Championship in York yesterday and claimed he needs to end his career if he is to have a life away from snooker.

O’Sullivan’s two-year wait for a ranking event title continues after he was beaten 6-5 in the second round by Judd Trump. But the Essex cueman, who turned 36 on the day, was keen to discuss matters away from the green baize.

Despite having been the sport’s box-office attraction for the majority of his 20-year career, he has rarely been a settled presence despite being regarded as an exceptional talent.

Having battled depression, O’Sullivan’s mindset has always been one of snooker’s talking points, but he says the penny has dropped as to his turmoil.

“I thought I applied myself . . . I seriously can’t see me having much longer playing,” O’Sullivan said. “Even though I’m in a good frame of mind, I don’t want to feel how I feel when I play. My game is not up to scratch . . . It leaves me feeling quite nervy and anxious and I feel like I’ve had enough of the anxious moments . . . I think there’s more to life, or there is for me.”

Despite winning 22 ranking titles, he claims that being on the road is a key factor behind his instability and is keen to make changes.

The other second-round match was another thriller, with two-time winner Ding Junhui seeing off the 2003 champion Matthew Stevens 6-5.

Allen lands in hot water after aiming tirade at Hearn

SNOOKER:Mark Allen could be charged with bringing the game into disrepute after he used "inappropriate language" during a post-match tirade against World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn.

Northern Irishman Allen was heavily critical of the decision to shorten the early rounds of the williamhill.com UK Championship, where he was a first-round victor over Adrian Gunnell on Monday.

“Following Mark Allen’s use of inappropriate language in his press conference . . . he has been referred to the World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association (WPBSA)’s disciplinary committee as he is in breach of tournament rules and could be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.” World Snooker said.

Allen said: “The players don’t really matter, so f**k the players.

“Whenever Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the world championships, UK and masters wouldn’t be touched. Only 18 months later, the UK format has changed.”