BOXING: The great boxing tradition of the Holy Trinity Club in Belfast was clearly in evidence as the National Senior Championships opened at the National Stadium last night, reports Pat Roche.
Welterweight Brian Kerr and middleweight Sean O'Meara gave the Belfast club an impressive start with Kerr, a stylish southpaw, ousting the more aggressive Patrick Jennings of Dublin's Quarryvale.
Later O'Meara , a strong middleweight, dealt with the bustling tactics of a physically strong Keith Whelan of the Saviours/Crystal club in Waterford. Both Ulster champions won on points.
Hugh Joyce, the St Michael's, Athy, welterweight, took a count of eight in his opening round against Thomas J Hamill of All Saints; but weathered the storm for a 24-16 win.
Hamill, to a degree, was justified in thinking that he was hard done by in terms of the computer scoring - he looked to be ahead after the second round; but the men pushing the buttons ringside surprised the crowd by giving Joyce a 12-9 lead.
Joyce, to his credit, finished very strongly with a variety of punches landing to head and body.
CYCLING: With the Telekom Malaysia Tour de Langkawi drawing to a close, Irish amateur Tommy Evans yesterday gave his all in his ongoing search for a stage win in the pro-am event.
Evans went clear with Koji Fukushima at the start of the 112.5 kilometre stage, and while the Japanese rider distanced him on the first King of the Hills climb, Evans combined with other breakaways to stay clear of the pursuing main bunch for most of the stage.
All of the front runners were eventually overhauled before the finish in Seremban, with an exhausted Evans losing contact with the main bunch shortly afterwards, but his valiant efforts saw him collect a clutch of points in both the sprints and mountains classification.
He is now 15th in the points competition and seventh in the King of the Mountains ranking.
Yesterday's stage went to Australian rider Stuart O'Grady, who profited from the premature celebrations of Spaniard Miguel Perdiguero to win by the slenderest of margins.
American rider Tom Danielson continues as race leader going into today's crucial penultimate stage to the top of the Genting Highlands.
HOCKEY: Loreto Beaufort's reward for their fine 3-1 win over Wesley College in the second round of the Leinster Schoolgirls' Senior Cup is a quarter-final draw away to holders Mount Anville, who also won the Senior League final a fortnight ago, writes Mary Hannigan.
King's Hospital, who produced the surprise result of the second round by beating Alexandra College, will meet St Wolstan's in Palmerstown while St Andrew's have been drawn at home to Loreto Abbey Dalkey.
High School await the winners of the second round tie between Muckross Park and Dominican College, Cabra.
All ties must be played on or by next Wednesday.
