A round-up of today's other stories in brief
O'Connor leading rider at the UAE show in Dubai
EQUESTRIAN:Cian O'Connor was crowned leading rider at the United Arab Emirates show in Dubai on Saturday although only finishing fifth in the weekend's feature class, the Dubai Equestrian Club Grand Prix.
O’Connor had a good draw in this Rolex FEI world cup qualifier with Larkhill Cruiser, thanks to their win on Friday, but the chestnut Cruising gelding left one fence on the floor in round one where there were only two clears. One of these was posted by O’Connor’s pupil Ahmed Tolba riding Splendor and this Egyptian combination went on to fill the runner-up slot behind the quicker pairing of Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al-Sharbatli on Columbia 11.
Earlier on Saturday, O’Connor won the Accumulator competition on the eight-year-old Heartbreaker mare Arabella. O’Connor said: “It was a great start here in Dubai to have two wins and take the leading rider title and I was also extremely happy with the way Splendor jumped for Ahmed Tolba in the Grand Prix. It was a perfect start to the Gulf tour.”
Soderling beats Roddick in Brisbane
TENNIS:Robin Soderling of Sweden defeated American Andy Roddick in straight sets yesterday to win the Brisbane International, a warm-up event for the Australian Open. Soderling, ranked fifth on the ATP Tour, beat number eight Roddick 6-3, 7-5 at the Queensland Tennis Centre.
Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beat Belgiums Xavier Malisse 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in the final of the Chennai Open in India.
Roger Federer yesterday beat defending champion Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-3, 6-4 to win the Qatar Open for the third time. The Swiss, taking a 67th tour title, previously won the event in 2005 and 2006.
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic beat Germanys Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the WTA event at Brisbane, while Greta Arn of Hungary had a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium to win the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
Van Wyk innings not enough for SA
CRICKET: A brilliant innings of 67 from Morne van Wyk was not enough to help South Africa claim victory as the Proteas fell to a 21-run defeat to India in their Twenty20 international at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. The opener smashed five fours and five sixes in his 39-ball knock as the hosts made a sound start to their pursuit of 169, despite losing Hashim Amla (one) and Colin Ingram (two) cheaply.
Van Wyk formed a rapid 57-run partnership with AB De Villiers but South Africa were always struggling once the latter was run out, eventually struggling to 147 for nine from their allotted 20 overs.
De Villiers had joined Van Wyk with the score on 31 for two but the pair added 57 in just 27 balls to seemingly put the Proteas in control. But the turning point came when De Villiers was run out for 14 in the 10th over.
Lynch gives Seattle the edge
NFL: The Seattle Seahawks stunned the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints 41-36 on Saturday in a thrilling opener to "Wildcard Weekend".
The Saints had a 17-7 lead in the second quarter but their defence struggled, giving up three touchdown passes and a magnificent 67-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown by Marshawn Lynch that secured the victory for a Seahawks team that won the NFC West with a 7-9 record. Lynch broke at least six tackles, including a fierce stiff-arm on Tracy Porter, as he powered his way through the Saints backfield.
Elsewhere, Nick Folk booted a 32-yard field goal as time expired to lift the New York Jets to a heart-stopping 17-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts, while the Baltimore Ravens powered their way past the Kansas City Chiefs 30-7.
King ends Selby's defence
SNOOKER:Mark King, scoring more heavily than usual, ended Mark Selby's title defence in the first round of The Masters at Wembley Arena with a 6-4 win which gave him a quarter-final place.
King, who has spent the past decade just inside or just outside the top 16, has always been respected as the grittiest of battlers rather than a fluent break-maker. He ran through the remaining two frames with runs of 44, 79, 50 and 77.
Scotland seeks Tour de France
CYCLING: After Tour de France starts in Ireland and England, Scotland is preparing an audacious bid to host the Grand Depart of the world's biggest cycle race in either Edinburgh or Glasgow, possibly in 2017, according to the bid sponsor EventScotland. Tour organisers are understood to be favourably inclined. Scotland has hosted major cycle racing recently, having been regularly included in the route of the Tour of Britain since 2005.
The big issue for the Tour de France, however, is the waiting list to host a start. Furthermore, the Tour’s parent company, Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), likes to begin the race on French soil at least once every two years. In 2012 the race will start in the Belgian city of Liege - ASO runs the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Classic - and Corsica is the frontrunner for 2013. The Italian city of Florence is preparing a bid for 2014.
Scotland has a distinguished Tour history and the first Scot to finish the race was Ken Laidlaw in 1961.
