Sports Digest: Tennis Ireland are holding a gala dinner in Fitzwilliam Tennis Club tonight to celebrate this year's award winners, a recognition of outstanding achievement both on an individual and club basis.

The awards ceremony, sponsored by Eagle Star, recognises junior and senior players, coaches and clubs who serve to develop the game.

The O'Shee Awards (junior) go to Paul Fitzgerald (Cork) and Fiona Gallagher (Limavady) as the Danone national junior champions for 2005.

The Maunsell Awards (senior) honour Karen Nugent, who retired from professional tennis in April 2005 after a career spanning 12 years and having represented Ireland in eight Fed Cup events since 1993, and Conor Niland, for his leading role in Ireland's 2005 Davis Cup campaign and who improved an unprecedented 400 places in the ATP World rankings this year.

The Raymund Egan Award goes to Henry Lappin in recognition of his role as national junior championships referee for the past 30 years.

The Eagle Star Coach of the year award goes to Jim Watt for his dedicated work as regional coach and development officer over the past 13 years in Ulster.

The President's Special Award for services to tennis will acknowledge Diana Gilley (Rushbrooke) for her work as a volunteer in the development of performance junior tennis structures in Munster.

The clubs shortlisted for the Club of the Year are Omagh (Tyrone), Lattin (Tipperary), Portadown (Armagh), Rathgar (Dublin), Castleknock (Dublin), Rushbrooke (Cork).

CYCLING: The head of the Spanish Sports Council (CSD), Rafael Blanco, has defended the laboratory carrying out an investigation into cyclist Roberto Heras's suspected positive test for erythropoetin (EPO).

Heras tested positive for EPO during the penultimate stage of this year's Tour of Spain, a 39-km individual time trial.

The result of the A test was announced on November 7th and Heras's legal representatives called on Wednesday for the B test to be halted after its image could not be read.