SPORTS DIGEST: Snooker: Ken Doherty fought off a spirited rally to beat Matthew Stevens 6-5 to advance to the quarter-finals of the British Masters in London last night. In a match of high quality Stevens levelled the match after being 5-2 down. Both players had century breaks on the way to the deciding frame but Doherty then saw the luck go his way. The Dubliner fluked a crucial snooker on the yellow from which Stevens hit the black and from the free ball pink Doherty closed out the match.
Cycling: Rewarding the Telekom Malaysia squad for their selection of him as team sprinter, Irish rider Tommy Evans showed the required finishing speed by taking an excellent top 10 finish on Saturday's second stage of the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia.
Evans is 67th overall, one minute and 33 seconds back. The Telekom Malaysia Tour de Langkawi continues today with the first mountainous stage, a 173-kilometre trek from Gerik to Tanah Merah.
Boxing: Former Irish boxing champion Willy Walsh of Wexford was named on Saturday as the chief coach to Ireland's high performance squad at a meeting of the IABA's Central Council ahead of the Athens Olympics. Seven times national senior champion, his assistant will be a Georgian, Zaur Antia.
The panel of boxers to earn places on the high performance group will be finalised following the finals of the National Senior Championships at the National Stadium on February 21st. The closing date for entries for the championships has been fixed for February 4th.
Rowing: NUIG's senior men's eight were by far the fastest crew at the St Michael's head of the river at O'Brien's Bridge in Co Clare on Saturday. National crews, rowing as Tara, filled a number of the highest places in the various grades, but were precluded from winning prizes, reports Liam Gorman.
In the single scull, in the absence of the host club's Sam Lynch, who missed the head through injury, the fastest men home were Eugene Coakley and Timmy Harnedy, who were both clocked at 11 minutes 42 seconds. However, as both were rowing as Tara the prize went to Albert Maher.
Tennis: Elsa O'Riain and Claire Curran lost out in the doubles semi-finals at the LTA $10,000 tournament in Tipton, near Birmingham. Romania's Liana Balaci and Belgian partner Elke Clijsters, who knocked out the number two seeds in the first round, won the tie 6-0 6-3.
