The World of Sport/ Greyhound Racing: Hot favourite Droopys Maldini was well beaten by He Said So in Saturday night's Paddy Power Irish Greyhound Derby final at Shelbourne Park, writes Damian Cullen.
Despite only scraping into the decider after a third-place finish at the semi-final stage, the 10 to 1 outsider, running from trap one - trained by Timothy O'Donovan and owned by Jim Hennessy - raced clear in the final straight to cover the 550-yard course in 29.66 seconds and claim the €150,000 first prize by five lengths.
Maldini left trap two as odds-on (4 to 5) favourite but had to settle for second place and €30,000, with Billy Playback taking third.
Earlier, Mineola Farlow claimed the €5,000 first prize in the Consolation final.
Race cancelled after co-driver killed in crash
Moto GP: The death of Peugeot's British co-driver Michael Park (39) cast a pall over the Rally of Britain yesterday.
The final stages were cancelled following the fatal accident, the first in the championship for more than a decade, with cars returning to rally headquarters in Cardiff for the formal finish.
Park's grieving team announced their immediate withdrawal from the event.
Citroen's race leader Sebastien Loeb, who would have clinched his second successive championship as a result, then took time penalties to ensure he did not win in such circumstances.
Norwegian Petter Solberg, in a Subaru, therefore "won" the race for the fourth year in a row to keep the championship open until Japan next month.
Heras wins record fourth Tour of Spain
Cycling: Spaniard Roberto Heras rode into the history books by winning the Tour of Spain for a record fourth time yesterday.
The 31-year-old climbing specialist from Bejar in the western sierras of Spain crossed the finishing line secure in 32nd place after the final stage which began and ended in Madrid.
Shane Stokes adds: Mark Scanlon showed fine form in advance of the Elite world championship road race next weekend when he finished an excellent third in the Tour de La Somme in France on Saturday.
At home, Banbridge CC rider Roger Aiken added the Irish national hill climb title to his cyclo-cross championship, winning the uphill race held at the Grianan of Aileach in Buncrana on Saturday.
Revenge sweet for Niland in Geneva
Tennis: Conor Niland had a significant success in Geneva yesterday by winning the third week in the $25,000 ATP Swiss satellite circuit, reports Pat Roche.
It was a first for Niland in his first year on the tour and it proved sweet revenge for the Limerickman in the final against Italian Simone Vagnozzi. Only last week Niland had victory over the Italian within his grasp only to lose out by not capitalising on a match point.
His 6-4, 6-3 win yesterday earned him the second seeding spot for next week's Masters in Montreux and world-ranking points.
In the Fed Cup final Russia beat France 3-2 at Roland Garros yesterday, with Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina beating Amelie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce 6-4 1-6 6-3 in the deciding doubles.
Seconds barely out as Duddy wins again
Boxing: Derry's John Duddy continued his one-man campaign to put round-card girls out of business when he knocked out Joseph Brady in 61 seconds on Saturday night - the 12th win of Duddy's two-year professional career and his eighth first-round knockout, reports George Kimball.
Brady, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, brought a respectable 13-4-1 record to the clash of 26-year-old middleweights at the Dana Barros Sports Complex in Mansfield, Massachusetts, but the audience - which included Kevin McBride - had barely settled into their seats when Duddy put an early end to the festivities.
James Moore, the Arklow light-middleweight, ran his professional mark to 3-0 in a supporting bout, dropping Trinidad-born Hollister Elliott in the second round.
Rossi crashes out as Capirossi ends lean spell
Moto GP: Valentino Rossi will have to wait at least another week to claim the world title for the fifth year in a row after crashing out of the Japanese Grand Prix yesterday.
Ducati's Loris Capirossi won the race - his first victory since Barcelona in 2003 -- ahead of his fellow Italian Max Biaggi, with Japan's Makoto Tamada in third.
Yamaha rider Rossi needed a top-two finish to be certain of winning the title with five races remaining in the season but made contact with Marco Melandri's back wheel as the two Italians battled it out for third place on lap 13 of 24.
The impact sent both skittling into the gravel trap and out of the race. Melandri was carted off on a stretcher while Rossi returned to the pits on the back of a scooter.
Four die in Great North charity run
Athletics: Four men died while competing in the Britain's Great North Run yesterday, police revealed. It is not yet known what caused their deaths, but they are said to be unrelated and it is most likely that they died of natural causes in the heat of the race, reports Helen Carter.
More than 50,000 athletes took part in the world's largest half-marathon, between Newcastle and South Shields, which was notable for its unseasonably sunny conditions. Many runners had reported feeling extremely hot as temperatures soared.
The men's race was won by Zersenay Tadesse, in 59 minutes five seconds, beating the record by one second. In the woman's race, Derartu Tulu clinched victory in 67:33.
* Guardian Service
