SPORTS PERSON OF THE YEAR: Equestrian star Zara Phillips has emulated her mother, The Princess Royal, in being voted the BBC Sports Personality of The Year. The 25-year-old finished ahead of runner-up Darren Clarke who was a Ryder Cup hero for Europe against America only a few weeks after the death of his wife Heather.
Phillips won the individual gold on Toytown in the three-day eventing competition at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen in Germany. She produced a near faultless performance over the three days of dressage, cross country and show jumping.
She also helped Britain claim the team silver and has become only the third rider to hold the European and World titles at the same time.
Runner-up Clarke won all three of his Ryder Cup matches - two fourballs and his singles clash against Zach Johnson - to help Europe win nine points.
In third spot was 21-year-old gymnast Beth Tweddle who bounced back from missing the Commonwealth games because of an ankle injury in superb style. The Overseas Personality Of The Year award was decided by the votes of the studio audience and they chose tennis star Roger Federer, who has won four successive Wimbledon titles.
CRICKET:England's batsmen enjoyed some productive practice in their build-up to the third Ashes Test with the majority of their top order scoring runs against Western Australia yesterday.
Alastair Cook claimed his first century of the tour and Andrew Strauss, leading the side in the absence of rested captain Andrew Flintoff, fell just 12 runs short of following suit.
And Ireland's Ed Joyce and wicketkeeper Chris Read scored runs as England reached a commanding 356 for five as the match ended in a draw.
Joyce, on the tour as the reserve batsman, hit a quickfire 73, before being caught in the deep, having hit eight boundaries, allowing Ashley Giles to also get more batting practice.
GOLF: Unheralded Spaniard Alvaro Quiros came roaring from behind to win the Dunhill Championship by one stroke at Leopard Creek yesterday. Quiros, playing just his fourth European Tour event, shot a five-under-par 67 to pip overnight leader Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, who deposited his second shot on the par-five 18th into the water surrounding the notorious green.
Lee Westwood finished third on nine under par, four behind Quiros, after a one-over-par 73, while Mark Pilkington shot a 75 to finish tied for seventh.
The 23-year-old Quiros shot 74 in the first round but then tore up the course with rounds of 66, 68 and 67 to finish on 13-under-par 275 overall, having started the final round in fifth place, four strokes behind.
EQUESTRIAN SPORT: Irish riders notched up an impressive four victories on the continental show jumping circuit over the weekend, with Cian O'Connor picking up a double in Geneva, writes Grania Willis. But there was no joy for the green coats in the World Cup qualifier at the Swiss fixture, with Cameron Hanley the only one of the three Irish challengers to make the cut for the timed decider but still finishing no closer than 11th.
O'Connor opened his account in Geneva with victory in the opening day's Speed Derby on Zanoubia and brought out the mare again to lift the honours in Saturday's bareback speed class, just hours after compatriot Hanley had snatched his moment in the Swiss spotlight when winning the young horse final with the seven-year-old SIEC Livello.
Hanley was then one of 11 to go clear in yesterday's feature World Cup qualifier, but one down and a stop against the clock left him just outside the top 10, although that was good enough to leave him with five World Cup points to his credit.
World number four Jessica Kürten, who finished a close second in this year's World Cup final in Kuala Lumpur back in April, also made her first mark on the points table, picking up four points in 13th with a first-round fence, while O'Connor was out of the reckoning with two down.
SNOOKER: Ken Doherty did not concede a point as he gained the two frames he needed to move into the third round of the British Championship yesterday. Resuming 7-1 up on Mike Dunn, the Irishman took only 22 minutes to complete a 9-1 victory in York that secured a last-16 date with Joe Perry today.
