Today's other sports stories in brief
Double double blasts Aussies
CRICKET: Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman hit double centuries as India all but batted Australia out of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series.
Gambhir hit 206 - his maiden double - and Laxman made an unbeaten 200 before India declared their first innings on 613 for seven.
Australia openers Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich made a determined start to their reply, closing the day on 50 for no loss.
Hayden, who has managed a meagre 42 runs in the first two Tests, was on 16 not out at stumps with Katich on 29, the duo having seen off 15 overs from the India bowlers, including seven overs of probing spin.
Australia had begun the day with optimism and banking on the second new ball to break the partnership between Gambhir and Laxman, which was already worth 139 overnight.
Those hopes quickly faded and turned to frustration as Gambhir and Laxman quickly accelerated out of the blocks.
Fagan to fight Khan in London
BOXING:Irish promoter Brian Peters believes Oisín "Gael Force" Fagan has the ability to pile on the misery for Amir Khan at the ExCel Arena in London on December 6th.
Dublin's Fagan meets Khan in the main support bout on Nicky Cook's WBO super featherweight title defence undercard just a few months after the 2004 Olympic medallist lost his unbeaten record by being KO'd in the first round by Colombian Breidis Prescott.
Fagan (34), who used work as a schoolteacher in Oklahoma, has won 22 of his 27 fights. But despite his record he is already being seen as a sacrificial lamb to help resuscitate Khan's faltering career.
"If ever there was a time to beat Amir, this is it," Peters said. "He's coming back off a defeat in Manchester and Oisín will be up for this one, to say the very least."
Tsonga thrills Paris crowd
TENNIS:France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga thrilled the home crowd when he beat world number three Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the third round of the Paris Masters yesterday.
The 13th seed, who will qualify for the season-ending Masters Cup if he wins in Paris, will meet Andy Roddick for a place in the last four.
Roddick claimed one of the three remaining spots for the Masters Cup with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Gilles Simon of France.
A dream final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was still on the cards after the two top seeds advanced.
Federer swept past Croatian Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-4 while Spaniard Nadal beat local favourite Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2.
Andy Murray set up a date with reigning champion David Nalbandian with a 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) victory over Spain's Fernando Verdasco.
Phillies complete bizarre victory
BASEBALL:The Philadelphia Phillies ended a 28-year drought and touched off wild celebrations in the City of Brotherly Love by winning a bizarre, weather-marred World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
But the 104th series will also be known for a clinching game that took two days.
The Fall Classic finale came in a unique, three-inning showdown on Wednesday after play was suspended in Monday's waterlogged Game Five with the score tied 2-2 in the sixth inning.
It was a historic game, said the Phillies Cole Hamels, the starting pitcher on Monday, who was named World Series MVP.
"This will be a trivia question for the next couple of hundred years and I'm glad I get to be a part of it."
Ireland sure of four medals in Mexico
BOXING:Ireland's six-year wait for a medal at the AIBA World Youth Championships ended in spectacular fashion in just a few hours on Wednesday night and early Thursday after Ray Moylett, Thomas McCarthy, David Joe Joyce and Jamie Kavanagh claimed at least bronze medals with quarter-final wins in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Moylett, from the St Anne's club in Westport, got the streak under way with a 10-2 verdict over reigning Cuban lightweight Youth champion Luis Garcia. And McCarthy, out of the Oliver Plunkett club in Belfast, rarely moved out of second gear en route to a 7-3 win over Swedish light heavyweight Pezhman Seifkhami.
St Michael's Athy welterweight Joyce beat Korean Kim Yeong 6-3, and Crumlin light welterweight Jamie Kavanagh dropped and stopped Salazar Mendoza of Costa Rica with a thudding left to the body in just one minute 21 seconds.
"I think I'm going to win gold," McCarthy said later. "I thought it in Dublin and I thought it on the plane. I did everything I had to do today and boxed to the gameplan and boxed clever."
Gatland to stay with Wales for next World Cup
RUGBY:Wales coach Warren Gatland has committed himself to the job until the end of the 2011 World Cup despite his feelings on the club-versus-country row over the release of players.
The New Zealander suggested last week he had been forced to consider his position after struggling to get the four regions to make their international players available for a three-day Wales camp.
It caused a storm which came to a head last Friday when the Welsh Rugby Union won a High Court decision to get the players released.
That allowed Gatland to have a three-day camp this week with most of his 32-man squad.
Asked about being disillusioned about his job, Gatland said: "I said I was frustrated rather than disillusioned. But I would like to say I am completely committed to Welsh rugby and I am not going anywhere.
"I have enjoyed the job over the last 12 months. You get your ups and downs but I am really excited about the autumn series."
