A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Nominations for awards announced
ATHLETICS: Athletics Ireland have announced the nominations for the fourth annual National Athletics Awards, which take place on November 13th, writes Ian O’Riordan
Derval O’Rourke is among the four nominations for the track athlete of the year, along with David Gillick, Paul Hession and Ailis McSweeney – and the Cork athlete is also in line to collect the overall Athlete of the Year.
The 12 prestigious award winners in a wide range of categories have been carefully selected by a panel of well-respected athletics experts with a wide knowledge and understanding of all disciplines of the sport.
The awards, which are presented in association with Woodie’s DIY and Tipperary Crystal, also feature the special Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rossi eyes emotional win
MOTOR CYCLING: Valentino Rossi wants to mark his last race for Yamaha with an emotional victory at the final round of the MotoGP championship in Valencia this weekend.
The 31-year-old, who has won four World Championships with the Japanese manufacturer, will race for Ducati next season (replacing Casey Stoner who is joining Honda) after signing a two-year deal with them.
Ruddock tenure is off to a flyer
IRELAND UNDER-2029
ITALY UNDER-2010
New Ireland under-20 coach Mike Ruddock got his tenure off to a solid startagainst Italy in Donnybrook yesterday. Leinster Academy wing Sam Coghlan-Murray was the star as he weighed in with two tries, with further touchdowns from Luke Marshall, Alex Kelly and David Qualter. Nicola Quaglio replied for the Italians, with Guglielmo Palazzani converting. The scrumhalf also added a penalty.
IRELAND UNDER-20:Sherlock (Leinster); C Gilroy (Ulster), A Kelly (Leinster), L Marshall (Ulster), S Coghlan-Murray (Leinster); P Jackson (Ulster), P du Toit (Leinster), A Warwick (Ulster), D Doyle (Leinster), M Moore (Leinster), I Henderson (Ulster), D Qualter (Connacht), M Kearney (Leinster), J Murphy (Leinster, capt), E McKeon (Connacht). Replacements: S Buckley (Munster) for McKeon h-t; M Dolan (Connacht) for du Toit 39 mins; D Heffernan (Connacht) for Kearney 40 mins; J Rael (Munster) for Doyle 47 mins; JJ Hanrahan (Munster) for Marshall, C Hircock (Munster) for Kelly both 53 mins; L Kuntz (Munster) for Coghlan-Murray, C Marsh (Leinster) for Jackson, D Gallagher (Ulster) for Buckley all 64 mins; A Spring (Connacht) for Moore, K McCall (Ulster) for Warwick both 65 mins.
ITALY UNDER-20:G Alberghini; M Appiani, A Morsellino, T Enodeh, M Visentin; A Cosulich, G Palazzani; N Quaglio, G Maistri, G Duca, A L Mammana, C Berton, A Balsemin, E Ghiraldini, J Bocchi. Replacements: M Aluigi for Quaglio, D Berisa for Duca, A Lupetti for Maistri, M Monfrino for Ghiraldini, G Calabrese for Appiani, T Castello for Palazzani, C Cerioni for Albhergini, M Ferrinin for Visentin all ht; F Gerosa for Bocchi 48 mins.
Referee: L Colgan, IRFU.
Defence the key as Demons face Neptune
BASKETBALL: Fierce rivals UCC Demons and Bord Gais Neptune renew acquaintances tonight in the stand out fixture in the latest round of Nivea For Men’s SuperLeague games.
The two sides served up a thriller in last season’s National Cup semi-finals with their upcoming clash at the Mardyke Arena set to provide similar fare.
UCC Demons’ Head Coach, Paul Kelleher, knows his side will have to cope with the Michael Bonaparte factor if they are to build on the four wins already gained this season.
“Both teams rely on their offense at present so I think whichever team plays the better defence on the night will come out on top.”
FIXTURES: Today: Men: UCC Demons v Bord Gais Neptune, Mardyke Arena, 20:00. Saturday: Moycullen v DCU Saints, NUIG, 18:00; UCD Marian v Belfast Star, Sports Centre, 19:00. Women: UL v Meteors, (Old Gym) UL, 17:00; Oblate Dynamos v Waterford Wildcats, Oblate Hall, 19:00. Men's Division One: Portlaoise v Blue Demons, St Marys, 20:00; Titans v CHM Ballon, Renmore CC, 19:00; St Brendan's v Tolka, Mercy Mounthawk, 19:45; Team Garvey St Mary's v Waterford, Castleisland CC, 19:45; Neptune v Maree, Neptune Stadium, 19:00. Women's Division One: UL v Meteors, (Old Gym) UL, 14:30; St Mary's v Brunell, Castleisland Community Centre, 17:45. Sunday: Men: UL Eagles v Moycullen, UL Arena, 15:30; Ulster Elks v 11890 Killester, University of Ulster HPC, 14:30. Women's SuperLeague: Team Montenotte Hotel Cork v DCU Mercy, Neptune Stadium, 14:15. Men's Division one: Team Garvey St Mary's v Team Loftus Recycling Ballina, Castleisland CC, 14:00. Women's Division one: Liffey Celtics v Foireann na Gaillimhe, Leixlip Amenities Centre, 16:00.
Pau plays host to final HSBC Classic
EQUESTRIAN: The final HSBC Classic three-day event of the season takes place at Pau this weekend and the series leader, Britain’s William Fox-Pitt who won in Kentucky and was second in Burghley, competes with the thoroughbred gelding Navigator.
There are three Irish riders among the 39 scheduled starters at the four-star event in south west France with Louise Lyons first of the trio into the dressage arena this morning with Murphy’s Miracle. She will be followed by Captain Brian Curran-Cournane on Dunran Castle while Mark Kyle rides his test this afternoon on Nitetime Cavalier.
In show jumping, Billy Twomey, Jessica Kürten and Cian O’Connor compete with three horses apiece at the World Cup show in Verona and Cameron Hanley is joined in Munich by Denis Lynch and Thomas Ryan.
