A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Former Springbok is shot dead
RUGBY: Solly Tyibilika, the first black African to score a test try for the Springboks, has been shot dead in a Cape Town tavern, South African media reported yesterday.
The 32-year-old flanker was born in Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape province which is the heartland of black rugby in South Africa, and scored a try on his test debut in 2004 against Scotland in Edinburgh.
A hard-running loose forward, Tyibilika played in eight tests and scored three tries, the last against New Zealand in Pretoria in 2006.
After playing 16 Super Rugby ties for the Sharks, Tyibilika went to the Lions in 2007 but never settled in Johannesburg and returned to his native Eastern Cape, playing for Border between 2008 and 2010.
Peamount United hit Cork for six
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Peamount United brought their impressive Champions League form to the opening round of the Bus Éireann National Women's league as they inflicted a 6-1 defeat on Cork at Cork Institute of Technology yesterday.
Raheny United put Shamrock Rovers to the sword with a 5-0 win at Tallaght Stadium, while Wexford Youths came from behind to draw 2-2 with Castlebar Celtic at Ferrycarrig Park.
Peamount proved to be too much for the Cork Women’s League, with Irish international striker Stephanie Roche bagging a hat-trick inside the opening half-hour, and there were further goals from O’Gorman, Quinn and Kinsella to seal the points.
Irish Under-17 international striker Claire Shine got one back for Cork in the closing stages.
Egan lightens up for London 2012 bid
BOXING: Ken Egan has confirmed he is to return to the light heavyweight division (81kg) in amateur boxing, the class in which he won his Olympic silver medal in Beijing, writes Johnny Watterson.
Egan moved up to heavyweight this year after he was beaten by Joe Ward, the teenage European champion from Moate, in the Irish Senior championships at light heavyweight.
It was Egans first defeat at that level for a decade.
The Dublin fighter has struggled at the higher weight division and he announced on Saturday he would return to his previous weight category and hoped to earn the Irish ticket in that class for the London Olympics.
Tipperary’s Con Sheehan recorded a comfortable points decision over Mexican heavyweight Mario Heredia on his World Series of Boxing debut to help Germany’s Leipzig Leopards hammer Mexico City on Saturday night.
Irishwomen chase World Cup place
CRICKET:The Irish women's team get their World Cup qualifying campaign underway this morning with a clash against West Indies in Dhaka, Bangladesh, writes Emmet Riordan.
The Irish squad only arrived in Bangladesh in the early hours of Saturday morning after a missed connection in Abu Dhabi caused them to spend a day in the Emirate.
Isobel Joyce leads a 14-strong squad that contains a fair amount of experience, including her twin sister Cecelia, Claire Shillington and Eimear Richardson. There are also five players under the age of 20, including Elena Tice, who is just 13, and Pembroke Kim Garth, who is 14. Four places are on offer for the 2013 World Cup in India from the 10 teams competing in the qualifier, with Ireland also coming up against hosts Bangladesh, Pakistan and Japan in Group B.
The two group winners will earn qualification, with play-offs between the teams that finish second and third to decide the final two slots in the finals.
Puma leads as Groupama 4 stalls
SAILING: Standings in the Volvo Ocean Race were over-turned at the weekend as the weather tactic by leader Franck Camass and the Groupama 4 team ran out of breeze.
American Ken Read on Puma is the new fleet leader after one week at sea as the four boats prepare to tackle the Doldrums north of the Equator, writes David Brannigan.
Read along with Spain’s Iker Martinez on Telefonica made the brave decision almost one week ago to sail west of Madeira, away from the traditional “rhumb-line” route close to the African coast and Canary Islands.
Cammas held breeze off Morocco while those in deeper ocean experienced light headwinds.
However, the French yacht ran out of luck on Friday as the Trade Winds between the Canaries and Cape Verde Islands were blocked by a weather front while perfect fast-reaching conditions delivered a slingshot to Read and his pursuers further out.
Lennon and Swail in Toronto money
EQUESTRIAN:There were no wins for Irish riders abroad over the weekend but, between them, Dermott Lennon and Conor Swail amassed over €55,000 in place prize-money at the royal horse show and winter fair in Toronto, Canada, writes Margie McLoone.
The international section of the show concluded on Saturday night when Swail, riding Chinook Valley Inc’s Dutch-bred stallion Lansdowne, and Lennon, on board Woods Rosbotham’s 11-year-old gelding Hallmark Elite, finished third and fourth respectively in the Ricoh Big Ben Challenge.
The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders claimed the top spot on the nine-year-old mare Regina Z, while the USA’s Laura Hough on Quick Study finished second.
In Vienna, Ireland’s Anna Merverldt followed up her second place finish in Friday’s dressage Grand Prix by filling the same position in yesterday’s Kur with her 15-year-old gelding Coryolano, beaten again by Germany’s Anja Plönzke riding Le Mont d’Or.
Glancy on the rise
TENNIS: Ireland's Daniel Glancy is set to jump 121 places in the men's doubles world rankings after his run to the final of the second-tier ATP Challenger Tour event in Loughborough on Saturday.
The Mayo man and Limerick’s Sam Barry each collected 48 ranking points for finishing runners-up (2-6 2-6) to British duo Jamie Delgado and Jonathan Marrayand Glancy will move up from 491 to 370 on the ATP ladder.
UL Eagles get the drop on Killester
BASKETBALL: In the big Men's Superleague clash of the weekend, UL Eagles beat reigning champions 11890 Killester 80-68, in the process securing Eagles coach Mark Keenan's first victory over the side he had coached for five trophy-laden years. The former coach was delighted with a first Eagles win over Killester in over three years.
Neptune bounced back from last week’s disappointment against Moycullen with a 99-70 victory over Belfast Star.
UCC Demons notched up an impressive away win against pace-setting DCU Saints, Paul Kelliher’s side running out 76-65 winners.
UCD Marian overcame the challenge of an ever improving Moycullen by 84-65.
Singleton’s Super Valu Brunell advanced to the next round of the Women’s Superleague Cup when they overcame Liffey Celtics 67-56.
Boost for Britton
ATHLETICS: Fionnuala Britton gave her European Cross Country Championship winning prospects a big boost after she finished sixth in the high class international cross-country event in the Atapuerca event in Burgos, Spain yesterday, writes Ian O'Riordan.
The Wicklow runner was only beaten by the Africans, as Linet Masai of Kenya took the victory in a time of 24:20 with Britton crossing the line in 25:32.
