A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Loeb dominant in Rally of Spain
MOTOR SPORT:Sebastien Loeb continued his dominance of the World Rally Championship season with his 61st career win on the Rally of Spain yesterday.
The Frenchman led the event from start to finish in his Citroen and was in total control heading into the final four stages with a mammoth 44.4 second advantage over the privateer Citroen of 2003 world champion Petter Solberg.
And Loeb, who clinched his seventh-consecutive world title on home soil three weeks ago, paced himself to prevail by a margin of 35.3 seconds and seal a landmark success for his C4 WRC.
The win means the car, which has been used by the French marque over the last four seasons but will be retired at the end of the year, has never been beaten on a rally based on asphalt stages.
Federer hits number 64
TENNIS:Roger Federer equalled Pete Sampras's mark of 64 titles as he beat Florian Mayer in straight sets in the final of the Stockholm Open.
Federer recovered from going down a break in the first set to triumph 6-4 6-3 and claim his third title of the year.
The number one seed joined Sampras with the fourth most titles in the Open era. Jimmy Connors holds the record with 109, ahead of Ivan Lendl (94) and John McEnroe (77).
Martin races away to win in Japan
CYCLING:Dan Martin yesterday raced to a superb solo victory in the Japan Cup, scooping his fourth win of the season at the 1990 world championship venue of Utsunomiya. writes Shane Stokes.
Riding his last event of the year, the Garmin Transitions competitor attacked alone on the Kogashi climb, three laps from the end, and quickly opened a lead. He built on that advantage over the remaining 37km, reaching the line a full 57 seconds ahead of a chasing group of nine riders.
“When we decided to attack with three laps remaining, I thought it was a little early, but it helped having two team-mates in the group behind,” Martin said. “Also, the cheers from the roadside helped me get over the pain. I’m very grateful to the fans.”
Yesterday’s result follows his stage success plus the overall classification in the Tour of Poland, plus victory in the one-day Tre Valli Varesine race in Italy.
Earlier this month, he was a fine second in the Giro dell’Emilia.
Troicki collects first tour title
TENNIS: Viktor Troicki claimed his first ATP Tour title with a comeback win over fourth seed Marcos Baghdatis at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow yesterday.
Troicki had lost his previous two finals and the 43rd-ranked Serb had to call on all his fighting qualities to claim his breakthrough success 3-6 6-4 6-3.
In the women’s final, second seed Victoria Azarenka beat hometown hopeful Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-4.
Troicki had lost his only previous meeting with Baghdatis and looked set to lose again when he was broken in the sixth game of an opening set he went on to drop.
But the 24-year-old battled back and levelled the contest with a single break in the second before opening up a 4-1 lead in the decider.
Baghdatis saved the first match point before Troicki claimed the title with a forehand winner.
“Marcos was playing very good in the first set,” said Troicki. “But then I started playing better and better and in the end I won my first title. It feels unbelievable.”
Australia's Indian tour a damp squib
CRICKET: The third and final one-dayer between India and Australia in Margao, India, was called off yesterday after steady rain over the past two days waterlogged the outfield, handing the hosts a 1-0 series win.
Australia, the number one ODI side in the world, ended their disappointing tour losing both the Test and one-day series. India swept the Test series 2-0.
The series had lost some sheen with top players from both teams, including Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, giving it a miss.
The first match in Kochi last Sunday was also called off due to rain. India’s five-wicket win on Wednesday decided the outcome of the series.
India next host New Zealand for a three-Test and five-match ODI series, starting next month.
UL Eagles keep up the pressure on Killester
UL EAGLES continue to be Killester’s stiffest challenge in the Nivea For Men’s SuperLeague this season after they secured their fourth win in a row at home to Belfast Star 89-72.
The Eagles lead 48-32 at half-time largely due to the strong rebounding from Carlton Mitchell, Ciarán White, Stephen King and solid court organisation from Scott Kinevane.
Star rallied in the second half with Puff Summers, who has been brought to the club as they await the completion of the Clayton Longmire signing, struck 27 points. But it wasn’t enough to prevent his side from their third loss of the season.
“We had a size advantage on them but we have much more to try and accomplish,” said UL Eagles coach Mark Bernsen. “We have a lot of cracks in offence and defence but we haven’t been at full strength all season. I would still consider it a tremendous work in progress.”
Yesterday, Killester rounded off an excellent weekend with a second win as they saw off Ulster Elks despite the best efforts of Kevin Foley, who struck 29 points for the losing side.
UCD Marian’s excellent start to the season continued with a resounding 95-79 success at home to Moycullen.
And UCC Demons continued their recent good form with a hard-fought 92-84 win over a DCU Saints side still looking for their first three points of the season.
