A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Bell century gives England morale-boosting win
CRICKET:Ian Bell scored the first century of the series as England claimed a morale-boosting victory in the fifth one-day international against India.
The Himalayan hill station of Dharamsala, hosting its first-ever international, proved a stunning venue but it was the away side who rose to the occasion, Bell batting through the innings for 113 not out to seal a seven-wicket win.
It was a satisfying way to end a tough trip for England, who bowled India out for 226 and chased it down with 16 balls to spare.
Bell’s immaculately paced hundred, his third in ODIs, was the centrepiece but figures of four for 45 from Tim Bresnan, playing his final match before treatment on his troublesome elbow, earn him a special mention.
James Tredwell also performed with distinction, finishing the series with 11 wickets as he returned a miserly two for 25.
The hosts, who secured the series by going 3-1 up in Mohali, were spared an even bigger defeat by Suresh Raina’s 83.
Eoin Morgan was unbeaten on 40 as he and Bell saw England over the line.
Earlier England’s bowlers made good use of the morning conditions having asked India to bat first with Bresnan and Tredwell doing most of the damage in a controlled performance.
Shanks makes history with Houston win
HANDBALL:Armagh's Charly Shanks created history yesterday when he became only the third Irish handballer ever to win a professional tournament at the WPH Race4Eight event in Houston, Texas.
The 29-year-old Lurgan right-hander played some of the best handball of his career to demolish Chicago's Vic Perez, Texan Allan Garner and Minnesota's Andy Nett — who won the Open Doubles at last October's World Championships in Dublin — to reach the final, where he saw off Californian veteran Naty Alvarado in straight games.
Shanks was the only Irish representative at the event. "I'm delighted to get the win, I felt great all weekend and it's an excellent start to the season," he said afterwards.
Evans takes tournament win in Cyprus
BADMINTON:After winning the Irish Open last month, Irish number one Scott Evans has continued his good form by winning the 25th Li-Ning Winter Sun Cyprus International yesterday.
Evans defeated England's Andrew Smith 21-17 21-11 in the final.
Evans was the number one seed for the tournament and lived up to his billing, reaching the final without dropping a set and taking care of opposition from Cyprus, England, Ukraine and Germany en route.
He despatched Germany's Philip Discher in the semi-
final on a scoreline of 21-8 21-5 in only 17 minutes.
Smith was equally impressive in reaching the final, also without dropping a set, but Evans proved too strong for the world number 73.
Emotional scenes as Bord Gais Neptune end drought
BASKETBALL:Tears flowed in joy and despair all weekend at the National Basketball Arena as eight National Cup champions were crowned.
The sold out SuperLeague cup ties on Friday night grabbed most of the attention but it was truly a three-day spectacle as games on Saturday and Sunday again filled the arena to watch the drama in the U18, U20 and non-SuperLeague senior grades.
The scene that will probably live on in most people's memories was the sight of so many Bord Gáis Neptune supporters overcome with emotion as they stormed the court after their team ended a 21-year cup title drought.
Head coach Mark Scanell labelled the MVP-winning performance of guard Mick McGinn as "one the all-time great performances I've seen in this arena".
Meanwhile, the all-conquering UL Huskies outfit secured their second straight Women's SuperLeague Cup. "When the pressure came on our big, important players didn't go hiding and that was a massive positive for us," said Huskies head coach James Weldon.
One player who definitely can't be accused of "hiding" over the weekend was 17-year-old Edel Thornton, who was part of two winning Brunell cup winning teams as the club captured the U18 and U20 women's titles.
Thornton collected MVP honours in both games, the first player to ever do so, pouring in over 50 points in the two games.
It wasn't all Munster teams on the winners' platform , however, as Belfast Star grabbed their first underage All-Ireland title in 24 years when they lifted the U18 Men's National Cup.
Led by identical twins, Conor and Aidan Quinn,many would rate Star as one of the best U18 teams to have passed through the competition since its inception.
Like all good entertainment products, National Cup Final weekend saved perhaps the best bit of drama for the last act as Templeogue and Killester played out an all-Dublin U-20 Men's final.
An energised crowd, witnessed a thrilling second-half comeback from Killester that eventually fell short as Templeogue became the eighth and final winner of the weekend with MVP and captain Luke Thompson hoisting the cup.
