Sports Digest: Cian O'Connor opened his account at the four-star international in Paris in flying style yesterday, winning the opening two-phase class with the 11-year-old mare Zanoubia.
O'Connor scooted home just under half a second clear of French ace Roger-Yves Bost, with the host nation's Jean-Marc Nicolas a close third.
Jessica Kürten, the only other Irish rider at the Portes des Versailles venue, was over four seconds adrift of her compatriot to claim eighth place with another mare, Castle Forbes Ivy.
PARIS - Prix du Salon du Cheval - Two-phase: 1, Ireland's Zanoubia (Cian O'Connor), 31.37 seconds; 2, France's Inquitomea (Roger-Yves Bost), 31.96; 3, France's JPC Attila (Jean-Marc Nicolas), 32.75; 8, Ireland's Castle Forbes Ivy (Jessica Kürten), 35.59.
Niland loses out
TENNIS: Conor Niland's involvement in the Futures ATP tournament in Vigo, Northern Spain, ended yesterday at the quarter-final stage when he was ousted in straight sets by Spanish player Daniel Mondero, writes Pat Roche.
The Irish ace went down in straight sets 3-6 4-6 to quite an accomplished opponent.
Afterwards, Niland expressed the view that he had been anxious to improve on his rising ATP points rankings, but there was a suspicion that a hamstring injury played some part in the Limerick man's defeat.
The injury has been niggling him for some time and he has decided to rest up for a couple of weeks.
England win Sevens
RUGBY: England retained the Dubai Sevens title with a 28-26 win over Fiji, holding off a late comeback from the islanders.
A sell-out 60,000 crowd watched Fiji take the lead through a try from Jone Daunivucu, only for England to level through Leicester wing Tom Varndell.
Mika Leawere hit back for Fiji, only for Ben Gollings to score and convert for a 14-12 lead at the break.
Gollings touched down again for a 21-12 lead. Sireli Naqelevuki's try reduced the deficit to two points but Varndell went over in the corner for his second of the match.
Gollings slotted the conversion for a 28-19 lead, which Fiji reduced to 28-26 but England's crown was assured, with Gollings' conversion proving such a sweet reversal of his Hong Kong disappointment earlier in the year.
Perry rally falls short
SQUASH: Despite a strong third-set rally, Madelaine Perry proved no real match for top seed Rachael Grinham from Australia in the quarter-finals of the Cathay Pacific World Open Squash Championships in Hong Kong yesterday.
Grinham, who lost her world number one ranking just this month, won through to the semi-finals 9-4 9-4 10-8.
Earlier, Perry caused an upset by stemming a fightback by Jenny Duncalf, the world number eight, to record a fine 9-0 9-6 8-10 1-9 9-5 win in 79 minutes.
Perry, the 28-year-old from Craigavon in Northern Ireland, has enjoyed a successful year on the WISPA World Tour, reaching four finals and winning the Buler Challenge Cup in Hong Kong and the Irish Open.
