A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Rees to miss Six Nations after getting 12-week ban
RUGBY:Wales scrum-half Richie Rees will miss this season's entire Six Nations Championship after being hit with a 12-week ban.
And Gloucester lock Dave Attwood has been ruled out of England’s opening two Six Nations games against Wales and Italy next month due to a nine-week suspension.
Both players were cited for foul play after Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup matches just before Christmas.
Cardiff Blues star Rees was reported for making contact with the eyes/eye area of Northampton’s England hooker Dylan Hartley during a Heineken pool clash between the teams.
And Attwood faced a complaint that he stamped on La Rochelle prop Petrisor Toderasc in a Challenge Cup clash at Kingsholm.
Both players have the right of appeal, but nine times-capped Rees is currently sidelined until March 31st, while Attwood is out until February 21st.
Sharapova loses in New Zealand
TENNIS:Top seed Maria Sharapova's flirtation with the New Zealand public came to a premature end yesterday with a surprising 6-2 7-5 loss to unseeded Hungarian Greta Arn in the quarter-finals of the Auckland Classic.
The three-times grand slam winner was broken twice in the first set by the 31-year-old Arn and made numerous unforced errors in the second to crash out in a match lasting 91 minutes.
Irish riders in top 12 in rankings
EQUESTRIAN:Irish riders dominate the top dozen of the Rolex world show jumping rankings which were issued yesterday by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), reports Margie McLoone.
With Cork’s Billy Twomey at number seven, Tipperary’s Denis Lynch at nine and Jessica Kurten just outside the top 10, at number 11, Ireland has more riders in the top 12 than any other country.
The rankings of over 2,000 riders worldwide are based on an accumulation of points gained from international performances up to the end of December. The current leader in the Rolex rankings is France’s European Champion Kevin Staut. Cian O’Connor, who has slipped out of the top 40 to 57, is competing this weekend in Dubai with two Irish-bred horses, the recently acquired Cruising gelding Larkhill Cruiser and the Heartbreaker mare Arabella.
Djokovic guides Serbia into final
TENNIS:Fans got a glimpse of the past and the future of men's game yesterday as seasoned campaigner Lleyton Hewitt showed no signs of slowing down while Novak Djokovic proved he is in prime form ahead of the Australian Open.
World number three Djokovic made it three wins out of three after demolishing young Belgian Ruben Bemelmans 6-3 6-2, a win that sent Serbia into tomorrow’s Hopman Cup final.
Former world number one Hewitt, winner at the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002, turns 30 in February but the Australian’s efforts at the mixed team event have given him hope that he can make a strong run in Melbourne. In just his third match back after three months away because of a hand ligament injury, he won his second battle of the week by beating Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3 6-3.
Roddick eases into the last four
TENNIS:World number eight Andy Roddick dismissed Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-2 6-3 to reach the semi-finals at Brisbane International yesterday.
Top seed Robin Soderling progressed to the last eight after overcoming the dogged resistance of German journeyman Michael Berrer 6-3 7-6. Defending his title, Roddick took 74 minutes to snuff out fifth seeded Baghdatis’s challenge and set up a clash with towering South African Kevin Anderson of a growing big-serving reputation. “I feel good after three matches. I felt good about pretty much everything tonight,” Roddick said. Looking ahead, the American reckoned a tougher assignment awaits him in the semis.
“It’s going to be a different match. I feel like it’s less about form. With a serve like that you’re not going to see a lot of balls, you could go games without seeing it, so its hard to get into a rhythm.”
Nadal recovers to reach semi-final
TENNIS:Flu victim Rafa Nadal benefited from a first set timeout with the doctor to dispatch Latvian Ernests Gulbis and join old foe Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Qatar Open yesterday.
Nadal, who has been suffering from a fever all week, began brightly by breaking Gulbis for a 3-1 lead in the opening set but lost his serve and called for the doctor after complaining that he was sweating more than normal on a pleasant evening in Doha.
The world number one recovered and took a narrow tiebreak before wrapping up a 7-6 6-3 victory to set up a meeting with either Russian Nikolay Davydenko or big serving Ivo Karlovic for a place in the final.
Earlier, Federer looked back to his scintillating best in blitzing Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-2 6-2 in his quarter-final after two average performances. Federer will play third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the final.
South Africa and India draw series
CRICKET:South Africa and India drew the third and final Test at Newlands yesterday to also share the spoils 1-1 in an enthralling series between the world's top-ranked Test teams.
The final day finished with India, who needed 340 to win in 90 overs, reaching 166 for three. Virender Sehwag’s dismissal for 11, caught in the slips off Morne Morkel, effectively ended any ideas India had of tackling their daunting run-chase, and South Africa’s enthusiasm was also cooled by Gautam Gambhir’s staunch resistance.
The left-hander produced a top-class display of gritty defence as he scored 64 in four-and-a-half hours before gloving a lifter from Dale Steyn down the leg side, wicketkeeper Mark Boucher taking a good diving catch. Sachin Tendulkar (14 not out) and Vangipurappu Laxman (32 not out) batted together for the last 82 minutes before play was called off eight overs early as the captains agreed there was no prospect of an outright result.
