Today's other stories in brief
UAE to host America's Cup
SAILING:The United Arab Emirates has been named as the venue for the Americas Cup race which will be held in February, the defending champions Alinghi said yesterday.
“Ras al-Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates, will be the host country for the 33rd America’s Cup,” said Fred Meyer, vice-commodore of the Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG), in a statement issued by the team. This is a venue that offers perfect weather and great sailing conditions for a match in February; the authorities have shown tremendous interest in, and support for hosting the America’s Cup, added Meyer.
Alinghi will face the BMW-Oracle team, who sail under the colours of the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC).
Richardson shines in title victory
CRICKET: Eimear Richardson was the standout performer again as Ireland claimed the European Championship title with a 10-wicket victory over The Netherlands at Milverton yesterday, writes Emmet Riordan.
The Leinster all-rounder claimed four wickets in Monday’s 10-wicket win over Scotland and went one better yesterday as the Dutch were bowled out for just 68 in the 33rd over.
Richardson finished with figures of five for 13 from 9.4 overs, while fellow spinner Ciara Metcalfe helped herself to four for 21 from nine overs.
Yet again Ireland’s opening pair of Richardson (28 not out) and Cecelia Joyce were untroubled in chasing down the small target, wrapping up the victory and the tournament in the 14th over.
Today the three teams will play off in a round-robin format for the inaugural Women’s Twenty20 European Championships at Rathmines.
Ireland meet The Netherlands again to get things underway at 9.30am
Five Brazilian athletes fail test
ATHLETICS:Five Brazilian athletes training in Germany for this months world championships have failed out of competition doping tests and will return home, the Brazilian Athletics Confederation (CBAt) has said.
According to a CBAt statement, sprinters Bruno Lins Tenorio, Jorge Celio Sena, Josiane Tito and Luciana Franca, and heptathlete Lucimara Silvestre had tested positive for the banned substance Recombinant EPO.
The CBAt said the five had asked for the B sample to be tested and would return home to await the outcome. “The athletes – who are banned from taking part in competitions until the results of the respective counter-tests are known – are returning home, accompanied by their coaches . . . and prefer to present their defence in (their own) country,” the statement said.
The tests were carried out in Brazil on June 16th, the CBat added.The world championships start in Berlin on August 15th.
Ireland face Wales in semi-final
HOCKEY: Ireland will play Wales in the semi-final of the EuroHockey Nation's Trophy today after the Welsh side won a hastily arranged penalty stroke competition against the Czech Republic 4-1.
The Czechs and Wales had tied for top spot in Pool A of the tournament on all counts and so required penalties to break the deadlock. But two extremely poor Czech efforts – who have never drawn against Ireland in four international outings – missed the target by quite some way to gift top spot to Wales. Ireland will play their semi-final at 3pm today at the North Wales stadium in Wrexham. Ireland beat Wales three times in the past two months.
Today’s fixtures - Relegation pool (10am): Italy v Scotland (12.30pm); Belarus v Switzerland. Semi-finals (3pm): Ireland v Wales (5.30pm); Czech Republic v Russia.
Emphatic win for Irish duo
ROWING: Laura D'Urso and Lisa Dilleen opened their World Junior Championship campaign with an emphatic win in their heat at Brive-la-Gaillarde in France yesterday, reports Liam Gorman.
The Ireland double scull needed to take first or second to qualify directly for tomorrow’s semi-finals, and at 500 metres they held second behind Romania. But from there Dilleen and D’Urso dominated the race, leaving the Romanians, who easily took the second spot, over five seconds behind them at the finish. The rest of the field were well out of contention.
“They did the job,” said team manager Derek Holland. The race had gone according to plan. “They knew the Romanians would go out hard. They didn’t panic. It was a mature row for the two girls.”
The win ensures a good lane draw for the semi-finals, where the main rivals will be other heat winners, Germany, the Czech Republic and China. Three crews from each semi-final will go on to the final.
IRFU logo gets a make-over
RUGBY: The IRFU has launched a new-look logo for next season. The standard rugby ball and three shamrocks motif has been retained but has been given a modern make-over. The new logo became official on August 1st and will feature on all merchandise that contains the IRFU's identity. This will include over 418,000 match tickets for all international matches. It is not the first change as a logo has been used to represent the IRFU and Irish rugby team since 1875 and has had many interpretations over the years.
Sheikh Mohammed banned after horse tests positive
EQUESTRIAN: The Federation Equestre Internationale has banned Sheikh Mohammed from competing in endurance races for six months as its tribunal found his horse Tahhan had tested positive for a hypertension drug and the steroid stanozolol, reports Margie Mcloone.
The ban runs to October 3rd and the Sheikh, whose wife Princess Haya is president of the FEI, must pay €2,943 in fines and legal costs.
Tehhan was selected for sampling at two-star endurance races on January 10th and February 20th in Bahrain and Dubai.
Subsequently, after a routine stable post-competition test revealed the presence of the prohibited substances in the horse’s system Sheikh Mohammed informed the FEI of same, asking for the horses to be disqualified from the two races.
Following its own positive findings, the FEI informed the Sheikh on April 6th that he was provisionally suspended and his ban has been backdated.
The sheikh’s trainer, Abdullah bin Huzaim, admitted giving the horse the drugs but told the tribunal panel – which consisted of Ireland’s Philip O’Connor, Patrick A Boelens from Belgium and Erik Elstad from Norway – that he believed the horse needed the medications and that both would be outside FEI detection times.
The panel handed down a 12-month ban to Bin Huzaim and also fined him fined €2,616 plus €981 in costs.
