A round-up of today's other sports news in brief
Trescothick rules out England recall
CRICKET: Marcus Trescothick has ruled out making a comeback for England in the deciding fifth Ashes Test at The Oval next week.
The Somerset batsman has been one of several former England batsmen tipped to be recalled for the final match in the series, which the home side must win to regain the Ashes from Australia.
However, 33-year-old Trescothick, who battled stress issues during his England career, believes it would be wrong to return.
“Of course I thought hard about it. But there will be no England comeback for me in the final Ashes Test of this gripping series.
“It has been very flattering to see my name mentioned in so many circles since Australia’s crushing win at Headingley.”
Murray eases through to his place in quarter-finals
TENNIS: Third seed Venus Williams suffered a surprise defeat at the Cincinnati Open yesterday, beaten 7-6 6-4 in the third round by in-form Italian Flavia Pennetta.
Williams made 38 unforced errors as 14th seed Pennetta outplayed the American to clinch her fourth victory in their seven meetings.
Im really, really happy, Pennetta said. After winning last week in Los Angeles I took a lot of confidence and it showed on the court today. Pennetta has now won 14 consecutive matches and fully deserved her victory, unleashing a series of stunning passing strokes.
The Italian won the tiebreak 7-2 and though Williams saved three break points in the eighth game of the second set, Pennetta forced two match points two games later and then clinched victory.
Later in the day Belgium’s Kim Clijsters beat Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4 4-6 6-2.
Strydom stars for Ireland
CRICKET: Ireland retained their European A Championship title after a 78-run victory over Scotland in Amsterdam yesterday gave them a clean sweep in the four-team tournament, writes Emmet Riordan.
After winning the toss and batting, Ireland got off to a flyer thanks to Reinhardt Strydom, who reached his 50 off just 29 deliveries and shared in a 64 run stand in 10 overs with Andrew Balbirnie, who contributed just four.
Strydom went for 64 and when Paul Stirling was out for 35 it signalled an Ireland collapse from 125 for three at the half-way stage, to a disappointing 198 all out.
Balbirnie was the star with the ball, taking four for 21 from seven overs of off-spin, while Andrew Britton took two wickets as the Scots were bowled out for 120 in the 33rd over.
Seniors reach semi-finals
GOLF: Ireland took another big stride towards completing a hat-trick of successes in the men’s European Senior Team championship when they brushed aside France at Ascona, Switzerland.
The 3½-1½ win took them into the semi-finals where they will today clash with England, who edged out Spain 3-2. Sweden take on Italy, shock conquerors of top qualifiers Germany, in the other semi-final.
Ireland, who won this crown in Bled in 2007 and Shannon last year, made the best start by winning the foursomes match courtesy of Seamus McParland and Hugh Smyth, who accounted for George Roumeas and Christian Burgert by 3 and 2.
They always had their noses in front.
Maurice Kelly and Adrian Morrow won their singles encounters, which guaranteed an Irish victory.
Tom Cleary lost his match and the last one was deemed to be halved as, by that time, the tie had been settled and the champions were on course for another crown.
Surprise defeat for Williams
TENNIS: Andy Murray’s bid to climb to second place in the world rankings continued apace with a comprehensive straight-sets win over Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero at the Montreal Masters.
The Scot rarely look troubled in testing, hot conditions as he raced to a 6-1 6-3 against the former world number one to book his place in the quarter-finals.
Murray broke in the first Ferrero service game of the match and forced a second in the sixth, before wrapping up the opening set with a thumping ace.
Ferrero, who beat Gael Monfils to reach the last-16 stage, received more of the same punishment at the start of the second set, with Murray converting his second break point chance before holding the rest of the way to take victory in one hour and 17 minutes.
“This is my best surface,” the Scot said.
American Andy Roddick beat Fernando Verdasco of Spain 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 7-6 (7-5).
Verdict on Jamaican athletes today
ATHLETICS: The five Jamaican athletes at the centre of drugs allegations are expected to hear today whether they will be eligible to compete at the World Championships beginning tomorrow.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which reviews all drug-testing cases, said on Wednesday it has finally received some but not all of the documents relating to the cases.
The world governing body is confident, however, that with the evidence they have in their possession, it will be possible to announce their decision today.
“The documents are being studied by our legal and anti-doping authorities,” said IAAF president Lamine Diack yesterday.
“There will be a decision before the championships begin.”
If it disagrees with the evidence submitted, the IAAF will almost certainly refer the case to the Court for Arbitration in Sport for a binding decision.
