Cycling: Mountain bike riders Robin Seymour and Tarja Owens yesterday further extended their remarkable winning sequences in the national cross-country championships in an action-filled day of racing at the Kilruddery Estate near Bray. Owens easily won her seventh consecutive title, while fellow Olympian Robin Seymour took his tally to eight straight victories.

Of the two races, the senior men's competition was the greater spectacle, with English rider Liam Killen and Seymour tussling throughout the two-hour contest. Although Seymour finished second, he was over seven minutes ahead of the next Irish rider and so gained the national title again.

Snooker: Glasgow belonged to John Higgins last night as he ended his search for a first title in his native Scotland.

The former world champion and world number one defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-6 to prevent the holder retaining his trophy.

It was Higgins' second tournament win of the new season and he is well on the way to emulating O'Sullivan's achievement of six titles last term.

"It's been a long wait but well worthwhile," said Higgins. "To have my friends and family here to see me win makes it really special."

Tennis: Lleyton Hewitt booked Australia's place in this year's Davis Cup final yesterday as he beat Sweden's Thomas Johansson before a vociferous Sydney crowd. The Australians, who lost to Spain in last year's final, can now prepare for a Melbourne showpiece against France at the end of November. The French qualified for the final when they defeated Holland 3-2 in Rotterdam.

US Open champion Hewitt proved too strong for Johansson, running out a 7-6 5-7 6-2 6-1 winner. This gave the Australians an unassailable 3-1 lead in their semi-final clash.

Johansson came back from two sets down to beat Pat Rafter in Friday's opening match but he was unable to repeat his effort against Hewitt, who was playing competitively for the first time since his win at Flushing Meadows. Rafter then defeated Bjorkman 6-3 6-1 in the dead rubber to wrap up a 4-1 win.

Sailing: The 33,000 mile Volvo Ocean Race began its nine-month epic from Southampton yesterday on the first leg that takes the eight-boat fleet to Cape Town.

Previous round-the-world race winner Grant Dalton held an early lead as the fleet passed the Needles lighthouse on the western end of the Solent ahead of 7,000 miles of ocean to South Africa.