Two thirds for Kürten

SHOW JUMPING: Jessica Kürten bounced back to form at the money-rich five-star show in Zurich on Thursday night, finishing third in the Credit Suisse Grand Prix, writes Grania Willis.

The world number three's time of 36.81 seconds with last year's Dubai Grand Prix winner Quibell left her 78-hundredths of a second behind the German winner, Christian Ahlmann, and just three-hundredths adrift of the runner-up, Robert Whitaker of Britain.

The result netted the 37-year-old Co Antrim-born rider €8,400 and a place in last night's Mercedes Swiss Masters.

In that event Kürten and Quibellto failed to catch the target of 30.88 set by Germany's Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum with Checkmate and had to settle for another third-place finish and €5,500 more for the kitty.

BOXING: Andy Lee put on a perfect performance to register his seventh win in the seventh fight of his career on a Top Rank promotion in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

He effectively picked off his opponent, 29-year-old Arturo Ortega from Phoenix, Arizona, with crisp sharp punches to dominate each round.

At the end of the fifth Lee opened up with a flurry of strong, stinging punches that pressured Ortega and clearly put him in trouble. In the sixth round Lee blasted his opponent with with both hands before the referee stepped in to save Ortega from further punishment.

Lee will now travel to Majorca to the training camp of the IBF heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko, in preparation for an appearance on the Irish Ropes Promotion of March 16th at Madison Square Garden in New York.

CYCLING: Paul Griffin and Ryan Connor had reason to feel satisfied at the end of the Tour of Siam, with their Giant Asia team-mate Jai Crawford winning overall and the squad finishing as best team in the race.

Griffin was 13th in the general classification, one minute and 57 seconds off Crawford's winning time. Connor made his debut with the team and performed domestique duties. He finished 63rd overall.

The AG2R Prévoyance professional Philip Deignan has pulled out of next week's Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia with a knee injury.

ROWING: Gearóid Towey has taken a break from the Irish training camp in St Moritz. The Corkman returned to international duty within weeks of being rescued from the Atlantic after his boat capsized during an attempt to row the ocean last year.