A round-up of today's other sports new in brief.
Olazabal puts name foward to captain Ryder Cup team
GOLF:Jose Maria Olazabal has put himself forward as a candidate for the Ryder Cup captaincy next year, even though all the signs now point to him having to wait until 2012 and Colin Montgomerie taking charge at Celtic Manor.
“He is available. If he is offered the job he will say ‘Yes’,” the Spaniard’s manager, Sergio Gomez, said yesterday.
“We know it is a matter of two and there are factors favouring Jose Maria and factors favouring Monty.” Europe’s tournament committee will decide the issue in Dubai next Wednesday.
Their discussions began in earnest in Abu Dhabi last week and it was only afterwards that Montgomerie, a member of the committee, emerged as favourite for the first match on Welsh soil.Montgomerie has been heckled in the United States in the past and it was always more likely that he would be asked to lead Europe on this side of the Atlantic.
The 2012 match is at Medinah in Chicago.
Rasmussen loses appeal
CYCLING:Danish rider Michael Rasmussen has lost an appeal against a two-year ban imposed after he was expelled from the 2007 Tour de France, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said yesterday.
The court said Rasmussen had failed to inform the UCI of his location, preventing Danish anti-doping officials from carrying out a doping test at the rider’s home in April 2007.
The two-year ban is from July 2007.
Armstrong avoids pile-up
CYCLING:American Lance Armstrong safely avoided the carnage that forced nine riders to quit the race as he recorded his best result at the Tour Down Under yesterday. The seven-times Tour de France winner finished the third stage in 32nd position to move to 39th place overall, 29 seconds behind Australian race leader Allan Davis with three stages of the 800 kilometre race remaining.
Davis finished second behind Graeme Brown in yesterday’s 136km stage from Unley to Victor Harbour, south of Adelaide, despite being involved in a pile-up with a police motorcycle. Davis recovered and got back on his bike but Germanys Andre Greipel, last years race winner, was not so lucky, ploughing straight into the motorbike.
Ireland’s Nicolas Roche continued his fine form, finishing in the main group to move up to 15th overall.
Green Dragon suffers setback
SAILING:Chinese-Irish entry Green Dragon is continuing jury rig this morning following yesterday's broken forestay that threatens to bring down its 100-foot mast 1,500 miles from the Qingdao finish line, David O'Brien writes.
It is just the latest significant gear failure to beset Green Dragon since starting the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) last October. Although it is unlikely the yacht will be able to fly any other headsails without a headstay – which will impair speed – British skipper Ian Walker reported they are continuing to Qingdao with other sail combinations. Ericsson 3 and Limerick entry Delta Lloyd, skippered by Ger O’Rourke, both profited from Green Dragon’s mishap to move to fourth and fifth place respectively while Ericsson 4 continues to lead. Although the mast is now stabilised the failure rules out the hope of a much-needed top placing for the Galway boat as the race approaches its half-way stage around the world.
Wesley battle back for victory
RUGBY:Number eight Ollie Brooks was the architect behind Wesley Colleges' resurgent 15-12 win over High School in the Leinster Schools' (Section B) Junior Cup quarter-final at Belfield yesterday.
High School looked set for a good day when wing Conor Sweeney and blindside Neil Cosgrove broke through for first-half tries to build a 12-0 lead before Brooks cut the deficit with a try on half-time. Then, Wesley centre James Quinlan got over and, shortly after, centre Robert Clarke kicked a penalty.
In atrocious conditions, Kilkenny College opened up in the second half, adding tries by their number eight Ross Deacon, centre Jack McDowell and fullback Richard Nicholls to one in the first from centre Jack Raeburn, to kill off St Particks, Navan, 22-0 at North Kildare RFC.
St Andrew’s College fullback Stephen Keenan, wing Seb Curran and prop Ashley Ellis scored three tries with Ben Anderson kicking seven points in their 22-0 defeat of St Conleth’s College at Templeogue.
