SPORTS DIGEST:CRICKET: Railway Union continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 37-run victory over Leinster at Park Avenue on Saturday, writes Emmet Riordan.
The home side posted 260 from their 50 overs, with Conor Mullen making 57 and valuable contributions with the bat from returning Ireland stars Kevin O’Brien (47) and Trent Johnston (35).
Paddy Conliffe starred with the ball for Railway, taking four wickets for 35 as Leinster were bowled out for 223.
Ireland stars were to the fore in Malahide as North County got their Division One campaign under way with a 145-run hammering of the home side. Andre Botha made 94 and John Mooney 51 as County made 272 for eight. Mooney also took two cheap wickets as Malahide were skittled for just 127.
YMCA inflicted a second defeat on defending champions Clontarf at Claremont Road. Former Ireland captain Alan Lewis made an unbeaten 73 and James Parkinson took four wickets in a 21-run win.
Gay breaks 44-year-old sprint mark
ATHLETICS:Tyson Gay set a world record for the straight 200m with a stunning run at the Great City Games in Manchester yesterday.
The American world 100m silver medallist stormed ahead of Kim Collins to clock 19.41 seconds and beat Tommie Smith’s 44-year-old mark by 0.09.
“It was truly amazing and it was a tough record to break,” said Gay.
Smith, who won gold at the 1968 Games in Mexico City, was trackside to witness Gay’s efforts into a headwind.
Olympic and world sprint champion Usain Bolt may not have been there, but it was a superb performance by Gay and sends out a clear message to his Jamaican rival at the start of a new outdoors season.
On the special track, Gay clocked a phenomenal 9.88 in the opening 100m and, despite tiring legs, finished the second in 9.53.
Collins could only watch Gay’s heels as he finished in second with 20.59, while Ireland’s Paul Hession was third in 20.66.
Difficult hoops debut for Jones
BASKETBALL:Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones' brief professional debut for Tulsa Shock ended in an 80-74 defeat.
The 34-year-old finished with no points, rebounds or assists in only four minutes of play against Minnesota Lynx.
“It’s difficult, I’m a competitor. I want to see the team win and I want to see myself contribute to a win, but I understand it is a process,” said Jones, who helped the University of North Carolina capture a US national championship as a freshman point guard in 1994.
“I know people kind of expect great things, they think I will be out there 40 minutes but you’ve got to understand it’s a process.”
She was previously drafted by Phoenix Mercury in 2003, but never made an appearance.
Bennett wins final stage in France
CYCLING:Young Irish rider Sam Bennett took an excellent win yesterday in the final stage of the Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour in France, writes Shane Stokes.
The VC La Pomme competitor proved quickest in the big bunch sprint which decided the 150.9km leg to Charvieu-Chavagneux, edging out Stefan Van Dijck (Verandas Willems) and Laurent Pichon (Bretagne-Schuller).
He also finished third overall in the sprints classification and fifth in the points standings.
Bennett was 33rd overall, some 25 minutes behind Jerome Coppel (Saur Sojasun).
Meanwhile, Daniel Martin finished a solid 46th on yesterday’s first mountain stage proper of the Giro d’Italia, reaching the line in Monte Terminillo four minutes seven seconds behind the stage winner Chris Sorensen.
The Dane was part of a breakaway that went clear before halfway of the 189km leg from Chianciano to Monte Terminillo, and managed to stay clear until the end.
Overnight leader Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) finished eighth in the same time as his main rivals.
The race continues today with a mainly flay 187km race from Frosinone to Cava de Tirreni.
Rezai blasts her way to victory
TENNIS:Aravane Rezai blasted her way to the biggest title of her career when she stunned fourth seed Venus Williams 6-2 7-5 in the Madrid Open final.
The unseeded Frenchwoman, who beat world number four Jelena Jankovic in the quarter-finals, tries to hit the cover off the ball on almost every shot and won five straight games on the clay in the Magic Box arena to seal victory.
It was the third title of her career after triumphs in Strasbourg and Bali last year and set the 23-year-old from St Etienne up nicely for the French Open which starts next weekend.
Khan cruises in Garden bout
BOXING: Amir Khan of Britain retained his WBA super lightweight title on Saturday in a one-sided beating of New Yorker Paulie Malignaggi when the referee stopped the bout in the 11th round at Madison Square Garden.
The 23-year-old Briton (23-1) pounded Malignaggi (27-4) from the opening round, hitting with far more power and accuracy.
Khan, making his US ring debut, won every round on all three scorecards.
Nadal overwhelms Federer for popular win in Madrid
TENNIS: Rafa Nadal reasserted his dominance over Roger Federer on clay and laid down a marker for the French Open when he overwhelmed his arch rival 6-4 7-6 in yesterday's final of the Madrid Open.
Federer beat Nadal in last year’s final before going on to claim the French Open and Wimbledon crowns and snatching back the world number one ranking from the Spaniard.
The eagerly-anticipated match in a packed and rowdy Magic Box arena graced by Spanish Queen Sofia was their first meeting since the 2009 title match and sets Nadal up for a run at regaining his Roland Garros crown when the grand slam starts next Sunday.
Nadal brought the partisan crowd to their feet when he took the first set and the noise reached ear-splitting levels as their hero fought back from 4-2 down to take the tiebreak before throwing himself face down on the clay.
