A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Irvine seals place at Olympics after finishing seventh

CYCLING:Finishing seventh overall in the Omnium event yesterday, Martyn Irvine has secured his slot at the London Olympic Games with a strong performance in the track world championships in Melbourne, writes Shane Stokes.

Irvine started the day 10th after the first three of the six Omnium events on Thursday. He was then fourth in the individual pursuit, ninth in the scratch race and finished things off with sixth in the kilometre time trial. He ended up seventh in the Omnium behind overall winner Glenn O'Shea of Australia.

The points gained plus those amassed in the earlier track World Cups meant he ensured Ireland finished seventh in the Olympic rankings for Europe, with eight to qualify.

"I'm absolutely delighted . . . the biggest rollercoaster of my life!" he told The Irish Times.

Also in action yesterday was Australian-based Irish woman Shannon McCurley. She was 12th in the scratch race behind the Polish winner Katarzyna Pawlowska.

Warwickshire dealt big blow after Rankin ruled out with stress fracture

CRICKET:Warwickshire have been dealt a blow ahead of the start of their county championship season after Ireland bowler Boyd Rankin was ruled out for six weeks with a stress fracture to his right foot, writes Emmet Riordan.

The 6ft 8in former Bready player, who has struggled in the past with stress fractures, played in all 11 of Ireland's fixtures as they won the World Twenty20 qualifier in Dubai and also spent time with the England Lions during the winter.

Warwickshire director of cricket Ashley Giles said: "He's had a large workload over recent months. We will need to manage this to ensure that it doesn't become a regular occurrence."

Swann’s late intervention helps England take control in Colombo

CRICKET:Graeme Swann took two wickets in a dramatic penultimate over to raise England's hopes of a series-levelling victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo yesterday.

England had started the day solidly but went 43.3 overs without success in the evening as their nemesis Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera put on 90 for the fifth wicket.

Then, with the tourists fatigued by heat and humidity and facing a tricky chase on day five, Swann bowled Samaraweera and Suraj Randiv in the space of three balls. At the close the hosts were 218 for six – a fragile lead of 33 – with Jayawardene unbeaten on 55.

Puspure edges closer to securing London spot

ROWING:Sanita Puspure cleared another hurdle towards her aim of a place at the Olympics Games in London with emphatic winning performances in both her time trial and semi-final of the women's single scull at the Ireland Assessments at a windy National Rowing Centre in Cork yesterday, writes Liam Gorman.

A win in today's final, where she must beat Monika Dukarska, who won the other semi-final, and good performances in the upcoming regattas at Piediluco in Italy and the World Cup regatta in Belgrade may well book Puspure her place in the Olympic Qualifier next month in the single. The prospect of a women's double has faded, as the most likely partner for Puspure, Galway woman Lisa Dilleen, did not trial.

The men's singles semi-finals were well-fought races, with lightweights Michael Maher and Justin Ryan coming home first. Maher beat Anthony English in his race, while Ryan held off Jonathan Mitchell for much of his race, though the fast-finishing Paul O'Donovan took second. O'Donovan has still to turn 18 and is targeting the World Junior Championships this year.

Italian rugby federation to pull plug on Aironi

RUGBY:Italian side Aironi will not take part in next season's RaboDirect Pro12 competition.

The Italian Rugby Federation has announced it has revoked Aironi's participation licence due to financial pressure.

Aironi are bottom of the Pro12 table, while they also propped up a Heineken Cup group this season that included Ulster, Clermont Auvergne and Leicester.

Fixtures in place until the end of this term will be honoured, and Italian rugby chiefs have already started the procedure to form a new franchise for next season.

Benetton Treviso are the other Italian team currently playing Pro12 rugby, a competition that also includes representatives from Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Meanwhile, Connacht captain Gavin Duffy has penned a contract extension to stay at the Sportsground until at least 2014.

"Staying with Connacht means a huge amount to me, as a team we have become a really tight-knit group this season and that is only going to get better next season as we add even more quality to the side," said Duffy.