A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Froome out to go one better in Spain
CYCLING:Tour de France runner-up and Olympic bronze medallist Chris Froome starts the Vuelta a Espana today looking to go one better than 12 months ago.
Last year he finished runner-up, 13 seconds behind winner Juan Jose Cobo, but after an impressive few months the 27-year-old will spearhead Team Sky’s bid to win back-to-back grand tours after Bradley Wiggins was crowned champion in Paris last month.
“It’s been a pretty chaotic summer so far,” he said. “My focus was on getting through the Tour, and then to the end of it. What we did there was a huge achievement for the team and then to carry straight on to the Olympics after that made it an epic summer. It wasn’t easy to retain my focus after the Tour and the schedule has made it harder because I’ve not had the time to tailor my training specifically for the Vuelta so I’m not going into it the same way as I did the Tour. But I’m confident, still very motivated, and eager to lead the team for the first time.”
Froome was frustrated by team orders to protect Wiggins in the Tour de France but there will be a reoccurrence with him as the focal point when the Vuelta (which includes Ireland’s Nicolas Roche) starts in Pamplona.
Award winning referee returns after illness
BOXING:Top referee and judge (RJ) Michael Gallagher finally arrived home from London yesterday after achieving another historic first for Irish boxing at the 2012 Olympics. Gallagher won the Best RJ Award of the 2012 Olympics but was taken to hospital with a stomach illness on the same day that Katie Taylor won gold.
Gallagher was being treated at the Homerton University Hospital in London, the specially designated hospital for the 2012 Games, but was then transferred to Enniskillen Hospital. The Tyrone native, who was presented with his award in hospital on Sunday night, won the AIBA World RJ Award in London last December. He is a member of the Clonoe boxing club, refereed 11 and judged 32 contests at the Games.
Cassells and Black battle through
ROWING:An encouraging win for the junior pair of Chris Black and Joel Cassells was the highlight for Ireland at the World Rowing Championships at Plovdiv in Bulgaria yesterday. The Bann pair fashioned a repechage victory which puts them into today's A/B semi-finals through a fine start, which saw them shoot into the lead, and a gutsy finish which allowed them to hold on as the Czech Republic tested their mettle. They are the one Ireland crew still in with a chance of medals. Claire Lambe will compete in tomorrow's B final of the lightweight single sculls. The 22-year-old was competitive until halfway in yesterday's A/B semi-final, but with the A final places already firmly held by the United States, Austria and Belarus, Lambe opted to keep her powder dry and finished sixth.
The junior women's quadruple are also set for the B final. The new crew placed fifth in their semi-final, winning a private battle with Greece to avoid last. The unluckiest man of the day was Paul O'Donovan, who mounted a tremendous charge in the closing stages of his junior single sculls quarter-final but missed out on a top-three spot by nine hundredths of a second.
Murphy shines to take third place in Stockholm
ATHLETICS:Galway man Brian Murphy claimed third place in the 400 metres in the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm last night.
The 29-year-old finished in a time of 46.71 seconds, with Sudans Rabah Yousif (who made it to the semi-final stage of the 400m at the Olympic Games) winning in 45.73 and Jarrin Solomon of Trinidad and Tobago second in 46.18.
The Crusaders AC runner, who successfully defended his 400m title at the senior track and field championships in Santry last month, was delighted with the result, commenting after the race that it was the biggest meet Ive run at.
Meanwhile, Olympic gold medallist Yuliya Zaripova clocked a season's best time of 9:05.02 to win the 3,000m steeplechase last night.
Thompson gets call as Mooney is ruled out
CRICKET:Limavady all-rounder Stuart Thompson has been rewarded for a fine run of performances for Ireland 'A' with a place in the senior squad for next month's World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka after John Mooney was ruled out with a finger injury.
The North County player, an ever-present since the 2007 World Cup, misses out after fracturing a finger while taking a slip catch for his club last Saturday. Mooney has had a wretched run of luck with injury after dislocating a thumb against Afghanistan last month and also having to come home early from the World Twenty20 qualifier in Dubai due to a thigh injury. The 30-year-old also suffered tendon damage to the finger and is expected to be out for three months.
Thompson (21) who is also on the books of Somerset, has pushed himself up to the top of the list as a replacement all-rounder after some fine performances for Ireland's second string before making his senior debut in the game against Afghanistan. Boyd Rankin is set to make his final tournament appearance for Ireland after the 6ft 8in opening bowler recently announced he intends to further his ambitions of playing Test cricket for England.
Del Potro and Djokovic set up repeat clash
TENNIS:One of the men's semi-finals of the Western Southern Open in Cincinnati today will feature a repeat of the Olympic bronze medal match.
Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro both advanced in straight sets last night.
Del Potro beat Djokovic in Wimbledon to claim a bronze medal for Argentina.
"I always like to play against them," del Potro said, referring to the game's top players. "It's also a big challenge to see how my level is against them on hard courts."
Djokovic defeated Marin Cilic 6-3 6-2 yesterday, reaching a Masters semi-final for the second straight week. Last weekend, he won the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Del Potro defeated France's Jeremy Chardy 6-1 6-3 in his quarter-final match.
