TENNIS: If Australia's defeat by France in the Davis Cup final is to be the last event of Patrick Rafter's career, the end came with a whimper rather than a bang, writes Eleanor Preston in Melbourne.
The whimpering came from Rafter's team-mate Wayne Arthurs, who sat sobbing into his towel after losing the decisive fifth rubber to Nicolas Escude 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, thus denying Rafter his lifelong dream of playing on a winning Australian side.
Lleyton Hewitt's emphatic win over Sebastien Grosjean earlier in the day had levelled the tie at two matches apiece and set the stage for Rafter to enjoy his finest moment.
Instead, the star of the show cried off, pleading a painful right arm, and left Arthurs to cover for him. Arthurs struggled valiantly before a combination of Escude's inspired play and his own shortcomings proved too much.
--(Guardian Service)
GOLF: The Dunhill links championship, Britain's richest event, is back on the European tour schedule for next season.
The £3.5 million sterling event will be on October 3rd-6th, and will again be at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingbarns.
This year, Paul Lawrie won the £551,000 first prize by holing a 40-foot putt from the Valley of Sin - later named the tour's shot of the year - but only after the celebrity pro-am championship had been hit by bad weather, which forced it into an extra day, and by bad publicity.
A few days later, just as the tour was about to announce its 2002 schedule, Dunhill asked for the event to be removed and stated that they were conducting a review of their sponsorship. But that review has ended with the company deciding to carry on.
CYCLING: With just days left before the Irish cyclo-cross championships, defending champion Robin Seymour won both of the off-road races held this weekend.
Seymour beat Aidan McDonald to win Saturday's race in Kilcullen. In yesterday's final round of the national league at the Phoenix Park, Seymour broke clear of the other scratch-group riders on the fourth lap and raced ahead, reeling in all those who had been granted a handicap start. League leader Don Travers, who finished over two minutes down in second place, took final victory in the league, with Seymour second and Robert Lamont third.
BASKETBALL: Waterford's 96-71 win over Notre Dame has seen them retain their position at the top of the table and confirmed their status as genuine title contenders writes Ian O'Riordan.
Waterford ended the half 50-30 in front. Brandon Hughes, however, stepped up in the third quarter and brought Notre Dame back into contention (69-55) as the game went into the final quarter.
But the automatic disqualification of Terence Wilson in the final quarter ended any chance that Notre Dame may have had and the home side pulled away.
Elsewhere, there was a memorable 109-102 win for Killester over Tralee Tigers as the Dublin side managed to claw back a 25-point deficit and force the game in double overtime.
Killarney Lakers enjoyed a second half come back against Tolka Rovers in Killarney, winning out 86-81.
In the women's league, Killester came within one point of the Wildcats in the last quarter of their game, but the Waterford women pulled away to win 66-57 and stay top of the table.
