Willie Anderson, Mark McCall and Andre Bester are expected to head the list of candidates for the Ulster director of coaching position which will become vacant at the end of this season, although in fact the new man could be in situ - as an assistant to the outgoing Harry Williams at any rate - by the end of January, writes Gerry Thornley.

The Ulster Branch chief executive, Michael Reid, was hardly giving anything away when he named the aforementioned trio as "the three most likely people north of the border. We're fortunate that Harry gave us plenty of notice to find a new man" said Reid.

"Ideally the new man would come on board in January, given that Harry is contracted until June but will be managing the Irish A side during the Six Nations Championship. It could be that he would start in January, or remain in the background. The situation is fairly flexible but either way he can have a look at our players and be involved before taking over."

One surprising name which has been mentioned in dispatches is that of the former All Blacks and Argentinian coach Alex Wyllie, now at Clontarf, though Reid said that Wyllie had "given no indication yet that he would be interested in the job".

The Ulster Branch will assess their list of applicants around the middle of October before taking any further steps. At this juncture Anderson and McCall would appear the obvious front-runners.

Cycling: Mark Scanlon extended his winning sequence to six victories in a row yesterday when he took the opening stage of the Tour of Hokkaido in Japan. Scanlon, who is building towards the world under-23 championships in France next month, broke free with three other riders early in the stage but was caught by the main bunch. He then made a lone attack in the final 10 kilometres, was hauled back and yet still had the strength to win the bunch sprint.

Squash: Ireland's Madelaine Perry won through to the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Women's Open in Kuala Lumpur before losing out to Egyptian fifth-seed Maha Zein.