A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Murray brothers advance in Rotterdam
TENNIS: Scotland's Andy Murray put his singles disappointment to one side as he teamed up with brother Jamie to claim a doubles win at the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam yesterday.
The Scottish pair beat the French team of Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-3 in the first round, performing so strongly they did not face a single break point and wrapped up victory inside an hour.
Andy Murray was beaten 6-4 6-1 by Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis yesterday, in the first round of the singles.
Having made a late decision to enter the doubles event the Murrays now go on to face India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Spain’s Marcel Granollers in the quarter-finals of the ATP event.
Death of former cricketer Bailey
CRICKET:English cricket was yesterday mourning the death of former Test all-rounder and broadcaster Trevor Bailey after a fire at his home. Bailey (87) was found dead by firefighters after the blaze in Westcliff, Essex, shortly after 6am. Bailey played for Essex for 21 seasons and earned 61 Test caps for England between 1949 and 1959. As well as working as an author and administrator at his former county, Bailey went on to become a fixture on BBC Radio's flagship cricket programme Test Match Special. He famously batted alongside Willie Watson for more than four hours to avert defeat to Australia in 1953, helping England reclaim the Ashes in the process.
Perry reaches last four in Manchester
SQUASH: Madeline Perry has reached the semi-finals of the British National Championship after beating England's Victoria Lust yesterday in Manchester.
The Banbridge player – who is ranked seventh in the world – won the quarter-final tie at the National Squash Centre, 11/4, 11/5, 11/6, and will now meet tournament third-seed Laura Massaro this evening.
Perry – who turns 34 today – is seeded second for this tournament and is tipped to make it to Sunday’s final, where she could meet top-ranked Jenny Duncalf. So far this year, Perry has reached the semi-final stage of the Cleveland Classic and the Greenwich Open.
Ryan is named Manager of Month
BASKETBALL:Fran Ryan, head coach of the UCD Marian Superleague team, was yesterday named Philips Sports Manager of the Month Award for January.
Late last month UCD Marian caused an upset by defeating the reigning National Cup champions, Killester, in the cup decider – 60-57.
More surgery for Kubica
MOTOR SPORT: Doctors treating Robert Kubica are hoping to carry out all remaining surgeries on the Polish driver today. The 26-year-old was yesterday moved out of intensive care at the Santa Corona hospital to their trauma ward as he continues to recover from the horrific injuries he suffered in a crash on the Ronde di Andora rally on Sunday.
The Lotus Renault driver, who is set to miss the entire 2011 Formula One season, underwent an operation to re-attach his partially severed hand on Sunday evening but still requires operations on his foot, shoulder and elbow.
The original plan had been for procedures to be split between today and Monday, but Dr Francesco Lanza, head of traumatology and orthopaedics at Santa Corono, has revealed they may all be carried out in one go.
“Yes, we were thinking of doing surgery in a single session,” he told the Italian media.
Almost 10,000 tickets sold
GAELIC GAMES:The GAA has confirmed the sale of an all-time high figure of almost 10,000 GAA Season Tickets two days before they finish selling.
This is the third year that the season ticket has been sold and it offers GAA supporters code and county specific access to all Allianz League games involving their chosen team and the same countys first championship outing for a base price of €75 for adults and €10 for 16s or under.
If the selected county team reaches the All-Ireland Final, those season ticket holders who have attended enough league and championship matches (60 per cent and more) during 2011, will be entitled to an All-Ireland final ticket.
Quilty pounces for Waterford
CAMOGIE:Reigning Ashbourne Cup champions Waterford IT defeated NUIG 3-8 to 0-9, in Galway yesterday. Michelle Quilty scored the first goal when she pounced on a rebound after an excellent save by Róisín Connaught. And Quilty scored a second to leave two goals between the sides at half-time, 2-4 to 0-4.
The win was secured through another goal, this time by Kilkenny star Denise Gaule, after the break.
On a wet and miserable evening in Cork, UCC defeated neighbours CIT 2-16 to 0-4, with Katrina Mackey and Niamh Goulding claiming the goals for the hosts.
UL marched on to the semi-final stage after a comprehensive 5-17 to 1-5 win over Northern opponents UUJ in Ballykelly yesterday evening.
UCD accounted for Athlone IT, 9-22 to one point.
In the Ashbourne Cup semi-finals, UCC meet UCD (1.30pm) and UL play Waterford IT (3.30pm) in Dangan GAA pitch in Galway on Saturday, February 19th. The final will be played in Pearse Stadium the following day at 3pm.
