A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Williams knocked out of Masters
SNOOKER: Former world champion Mark Williams bowed out of the Masters in the first round yesterday, beaten 6-4 by Ding Junhui.
In a low quality game at Wembley Arena, China’s world number four established a 5-2 advantage.
World number three Williams threatened to make a game of it when he won the next two frames to reduce the deficit to 5-4. However, the left-hander was made to pay for missing a chance to square the contest in the 10th frame as Ding booked his place in the second round.
“Mark played well to come back to 5-4 so I had to stay strong,” said Ding. “I’ve played him a few times this season and he has beaten me, so it’s good for my confidence to beat him.
“I don’t want to think about winning the tournament, I just want to relax and think about the next round.”
Murray to be fifth seed Down Under
TENNIS: Andy Murray will find himself seeded fifth at the Australian Open for the second consecutive year after he was yesterday overtaken in the rankings by Robin Soderling.
The British number one reclaimed the number four spot with his run to the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in November, but Soderling’s victory at the Brisbane International on Sunday means they have swapped places again.
Murray has also been in good form, winning all three of his singles matches at the Hopman Cup last week, but the 23-year-old has paid the price for the team tournament not being a ranking event.
The drop means Murray could find Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all blocking his path to a first grand slam title when the draw for the Australian Open is made on Friday.
Toe operation will force Jenkins to miss Six Nations
RUGBY: Wales’s hopes of a more prosperous new year took a blow yesterday when their Lions prop Gethin Jenkins committed to undergo surgery on an injured toe that will rule him out for 10 weeks and the entire Six Nations campaign.
Jenkins, despite his 76 caps, is a player Wales have learned to play without. He started one match in last season’s Six Nations because of a calf injury which has been traced to his toe problem and he missed two of Wales’s four internationals last November.
“The hope was that with reduced training and rest the toe would heal itself,” said David Young, the head coach at Jenkins’s region, Cardiff Blues. “They have gone down every path because Gethin wanted to avoid having the operation but it has reached the stage where the only choice is to operate.
“The toe injury has affected his calf and Gethin feels he has not been able to play the way he would like to because he has not done his normal fitness training. He will miss the Six Nations, which is a big blow for Wales.”
Wales open their Six Nations campaign at the Millennium Stadium on February 4th against England, who expect to have available Northampton’s Chris Ashton and Courtney Lawes, who both suffered leg injuries during the defeat by Leicester last Saturday.
The Saints hope they will be fit for Friday's Heineken Cup match against Edinburgh when they have a chance to clinch the group title. Guardian Service
Irish trio keep hopes alive
TENNIS: Irish trio Barry King, Sam Barry and Amy Bowtell yesterday nailed down places in the final round of qualifying in their respective ITF events in Glasgow.
After receiving first-round byes in the men’s tournament, Dubliner King, the number four seed, was leading 6-0 2-0 when Swedish opponent Viktor Stjern decided he was unable to continue due to an arm injury. And number 10 seed Barry beat Britain’s James Ireland 6-4 6-0.
Today, both Irish players bid to secure entry into the 48-strong main draw. King is fancied to overcome Marshal Tutu, especially as he holds a world ranking of 882 compared to the 18-year-old Briton’s rank of 1,341.
But 1,213-ranked Barry, who won’t turn 19 until later this month, will have it all to do against Alexandre Penaud, with the Frenchman being seeded number five.
In the women’s event, Greystones’ Bowtell scored a 6-4 6-0 win over Briton Emily Rodbourne to set up a final round clash against another Briton, Jennifer Ren.
Cahill hits two as Aussies cruise
SOCCER: Tim Cahill scored twice as Australia began their assault on the Asian Cup title by outclassing India 4-0 in a one-sided Group C opening match at the Al Sadd Stadium yesterday.
The top-ranked team in the competition were barely troubled by the bottom-ranked side with Harry Kewell and Brett Holman also scoring as Australia dominated from start to finish.
Cahill fired Australia into the lead after 11 minutes, Kewell doubled the lead with a left-foot drive after 25, and Holman headed the third at the end of the first half.
Cahill scored his second and Australias fourth after 64 minutes with a typically excellent header from a Luke Wilkshire cross on an afternoon when Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer only had to make one serious save, thwarting striker Sunil Chhetri six minutes from time.
South Korea beat Bahrain 2-1 with two goals from Koo Ja-cheol.
