Today's other stories in brief

Robertson sees off Hendry 6-4

SNOOKER: Neil Robertson dug deep to see off six-time Masters winner Stephen Hendry 6-4 and book his place in this year's quarter-finals at Wembley. He led four times but could not get away from the veteran Scot until he took the final three frames to book a meeting with Stephen Maguire in the last eight.

Robertson came out of the blocks fast after the break and had a 147 in his sights until he missed an awkward black on 97. It looked like 4-2 when Robertson opened up with a 52 break in the next, but Hendry hit back with a 61 to steal the frame on the black.

The Scot was in front for the only time when he got the better of a protracted safety duel in the next. He could not take a telling advantage, however, when his opponent got a ‘kick’ in the eighth, and it was all square once again after Robertson cleared the colours.

Robertson came from off the pace with a 47 break to scrape home 60-43 in the next and closed out the contest with a 92 break in the last frame.

Berlin event taken off 2009 calendar

TENNIS:The German Open women's tournament in Berlin has been cancelled, the WTA said yesterday.

“The tournament won’t be on the 2009 calendar but the tournament being scrapped has nothing to do with the global credit crunch,” a WTA spokeswoman said.

“The Qatar Tennis Federation, owner of the Berlin tournament membership, has made the decision that they no longer wish to operate the German Open in Berlin and to sell the membership back to the Tour.”

The claycourt event usually takes place in May and has been one of the traditional warm-up tournaments for the French Open.

The German Open was bought by the Qatar Tennis Federation to boost the image of the country in Europe. During the tournament, programmes and exhibitions promoted sports tourism in Qatar.

Brudair takes monthly award

MANAGER OF THE MONTH:John Brudair, the manager of the Drumcollogher-Broadford football team, is the Philips Sports Manager of the Month for December.

At the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday, December 6th, Dromcollogher-Broadford beat Kilmurray-Ibrickane 0-6 to 0-5 to win their first Munster club football title – the first time they had reached the final.

Williams made to fight as Djokovic cruises through

TENNIS:Serena Williams saved three match points and Novak Djokovic revived his stuttering Australian Open preparations in fierce heat at the Sydney International yesterday.

Williams provided further evidence of her fighting spirit when coming back to beat Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 in their quarter-final.

Wozniacki looked poised for a shock win when she broke Williams to lead 6-5 in the final set but she failed to serve out, squandering three match points in the process.

Djokovic rebounded from his shock first-round loss in Brisbane last week to crush Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-1, 6-2 in their second-round match at the Olympic tennis centre.

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva chalked up her eighth straight win this season, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 over Poland’s Agniezska Radwanska, to earn a semi-final with Williams.

World number three Dinara Safina defeated Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-4 to set up a meeting with Sugiyama.

Dakar's 11th stage lost to fog

MOTOR SPORT: Yesterday's 11th stage of the Dakar Rally was cancelled because of heavy fog.

“As the timing of the stage cannot be altered due to the crossing of the Andes and the crossing of the border between Chile and Argentina, organisers have decided to cancel stage 11 between Copiapo and Fiambala,” said a statement on the rally’s website.

The competitors will now drive the 680km route without racing their vehicles. Leader Carlos Sainz, who has won the last four stages, is nearly 25 minutes ahead of the USA’s Mark Miller in the car race.

Sainz’s fellow Spaniard Marc Coma has a lead of one hour 25 minutes in the motorbike event.

The controversial race was marred by another serious injury on Tuesday, with Spanish motorbike rider Cristobal Guerrero in a coma after crashing during stage 10.

The rally has already claimed the life of French motorbike rider Pascal Terry.

Gebrselassie on record trail

ATHLETICS:Haile Gebrselassie is keen to succeed where he failed last year and set a world record at tomorrow's Dubai Marathon.

Gebrselassie, who set the current mark of two hours, three minutes and 59 seconds in Berlin last September, went off too quickly 12 months ago.

In their desire to assist the world’s greatest distance runner, organisers have modified this year’s course so it is almost entirely level and virtually in a straight line from start to finish.