Snooker: Ken Doherty scored an impressive 5-1 victory over Pakistan's Shokat Ali in the Thailand Masters in Bangkok yesterday. "I wouldn't regard it as a good week if I didn't go home with the cup," said Doherty, winner of the Welsh Open at Cardiff in January.
"That's the standard you've got to set yourself at the top level. You can't afford to be satisfied with just getting to quarterfinals or semi-finals." Doherty could not have wished for a more confidence boosting introduction to the contest as he fired in a 131 break - the joint highest of the tournament so far - to swiftly account for the opening frame.
The 31-year-old Irishman then stole the second on the black before adding a run of 123 as he cruised to his eighth straight ranking match win. "I watched Shokat beat Ronnie O'Sullivan last night, so I knew it wouldn't be easy," added Doherty.
Thailand Masters (Bangkok) - Quarter-finals: J Parrott (Eng) bt Q Hann (Aus) 5-3, K Doherty (Irl) bt S Ali (Pakistan) 5-1.
Hockey: A second-half collapse put Ireland's men's hockey team well and truly out of contention at the Prime Minister's Gold Cup event in Dhaka, Bangladesh, yesterday. Ireland lost 6-1 to Pakistan.
One down at half-time, Ireland then endured an awful 20 minutes in which they conceded five goals before Stephen Butler grabbed a consolation goal.
Ireland: W Bateman, D Smyth, K Burns, E Lutton, P Brown, J Black, S Butler, N Buttimer, D Clarke, M Raphael, J Sherriff. Subs: M Black, P Lombard, C Jackson, G Eliott, N Henderson. Pool B: China 0, Malaysia 1; Ireland 1, Pakistan 6; standings: 1, Pakistan (played 3) 9 pts.; 2, China (4) 6 pts.; 3, Egypt (3) 3 pts.; 4, Malaysia (3) 3 pts; 5, Ireland (3) 3 pts. Today: Ireland v Egypt.
Cycling: Switzerland's Alex Zuelle, riding for Team Coast, won yesterday's fourth stage of the Paris-Nice race, a 195.6 km ride from Tarascon to Sisteron.
Zuelle finished ahead of Jose Azevedo of Portugal (Once) in a provisional time of four hours 55 minutes and 10 seconds. Belgium's Peter van Petegem retained the white jersey of the overall race leader.
Hockey: The Irish Hockey Association will issue a new directive to its branches and schools today, one that may revise last week's recommendation that there should be no competitive hockey played until after Sunday, March 25th.
Meanwhile the IHA has announced its revised dates for the Irish Senior and Junior Cup finals and for the All-Ireland Club Championships, the finals of which (for both men and women) will be played at Belfield between May 11th and 13th.
Men - April 7th: Irish Senior Cup final (as previously scheduled), Irish Junior Cup semi-finals; April 21st: Irish Junior Cup final, Junior Interprovincial Championships. April 28th: All-Ireland Club Championship quarter-finals, first leg. May 2nd: All-Ireland Club Championship quarter-finals, second leg. May 11th-13th: All-Ireland Club Championship finals.
Women - April 7th: Irish Junior Cup final; April 21st: Irish Senior Cup final, Ireland Club Championships preliminary match. April 28th: All-Ireland Club Championship quarter-finals, first leg. May 2nd: All-Ireland Club Championship quarterfinals, second leg. May 11th-13th: All-Ireland Club Championship finals.
