A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Ogilvy leads in Australian Open
GOLF: Geoff Ogilvy established a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Australian Open at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney, while American drawcard John Daly endured a torrid back nine to miss the cut for the weekend.
Having started the day three shots behind overnight leader Matthew Griffin, Ogilvy mixed consistency with the spectacular for a round of 65 to leave him at 11 under, one shot clear of Matt Jones who shot the round of the day, an eight under 64.
Twomey ranked ninth in the world
SHOW JUMPING:Cork-born Billy Twomey (33) entered the ranks of the top 10 show jumping riders in the world for the first time this week, coming in at number nine in the list published by the FEI and topped by Frenchman Kevin Staut, writes Margie McLoone.
“I’d like to thank all the people who have helped me, my owners, sponsors and supporters,” said Twomey, who is based in Cheshire.
“I’d also like to thank the Irish chef d’equipe Robert Splaine for giving me the opportunity to compete at top-class shows. I have a couple of very capable horses at the moment, and this is also the reason why I have been able to win enough points for my first top 10 position.”
Djokovic keeps his cool to level Davis Cup decider
TENNIS:Ice cool Novak Djokovic calmed Serbia nerves yesterday to level the Davis Cup final at 1-1 after team-mate Janko Tipsarevic was thrashed by France's Gael Monfils in the Belgrade Arena.
Djokovic, whose country’s hopes of winning the trophy for a first time rest heavily on his shoulders, outplayed Gilles Simon for a 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 victory played out to a soundtrack of beating drums and inflatable plastic batons.
Today’s doubles between the home pairing of Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki and the French pairing of Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra now takes on enormous significance for the outcome of the 98th edition of the team event.
After several days of hype there was an expectant atmosphere in the 17,000-seater arena but it threatened to go flat as Tipsarevic imploded.
The bearded world number 49 could hardly have started in worse fashion. He opened with two feeble double faults and never found any form during a 6-1, 7-6, 6-0 drubbing.
World number three Djokovic produced a masterclass against Simon who was chosen for the second singles slot ahead of Llodra.
Djokovic broke serve after a marathon seventh game and then broke to love to take the first set before coasting through the second.
The Serb suffered a rare lapse, squandering two match points at 5-4 to allow Simon to extend the contest, but he hit back immediately to seal the win in two hours 18 minutes.
Turf Club to discuss stall plan
RACING:The Turf Club stressed yesterday it does not want Ireland to be the "odd man out" when it comes to starting procedures and said it will examine the possibility of numbering stalls from the inside rail, writes Brian O'Connor
It was confirmed yesterday that the authorities in Britain are on the verge of following the worldwide racing pattern of having stall one placed on the inside rail and then moving out.
Currently in Ireland and Britain, draw positions begin on the right, as viewed from racecourse stands, but the British Horseracing Authority intend to alter that in time for the start of their 2011 turf season.
The most high-profile example of the impact of such a move to many punters is how stall one for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is on the inside rail at Longchamp whereas it would be on the outside in Ireland.
“There had been discussions on this at international stewarding committee meetings which are aimed at the greater harmonisation of racing internationally. But we weren’t aware the BHA had gone further than discussions,” the Turf Club chief executive Denis Egan said yesterday.
South Africa and Gibbs part ways
CRICKET:Herschelle Gibbs' international career is all but over after his national contract was terminated by mutual consent, Cricket South Africa have confirmed.
The veteran batsman was in the headlines last month after he made damaging allegations about the team in his autobiography To the Point.
“It has been decided that this is the best way forward for both parties,” CSA chief executive officer Gerald Majola said.
Bangladesh’s Abdur Razzak took a hat-trick and shared nine wickets with fellow left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan to set up a crushing six-wicket victory in the second one-day international against Zimbabwe yesterday.
Rain meant no play was possible on day three of the third Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Kandy.
The tourists were on 244 for five at stumps on day two.
James stars on Cleveland return
BASKETBALL:It was not a happy homecoming but it was a spectacular one as LeBron James scored a season-high 38 points to lead the Miami Heat to a convincing 118-90 triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.
Returning to Ohio for the first time since moving to Miami to form a super team with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, James received the hostile reception he expected from fans who booed him relentlessly from the moment he skipped onto the court until the final buzzer.
Instead it was merciless James, who delivered the type of performance that only reminded Cleveland of what they were missing as he dropped 24 points in a sensational third quarter that put the contest out of reach.
Not wanting to rub salt into Cleveland’s wounds, James would spend the fourth quarter watching from the bench.
We came here with one goal and that was to win a basketball game, said James, who also had eight assists and five rebounds.
