Other sports stories in brief

Nevin rounds off week with gold

BOXING:John Joe Nevin was celebrating on the double on Saturday after claiming a gold medal 24 hours after booking his ticket for Beijing at the second last Olympic qualifiers for European boxers in Pescara, Italy.

It has been a remarkable week on the Adriatic coast for the 18-year-old Cavan bantamweight who won his first Irish senior title at the National Stadium in Dublin last January.

In his four fights in Pescara he racked up 88 points and conceded 49 - his most impressive victory being a 16-15 quarter-final win over ex-World and European medallist Detelin Dalakliev from Bulgaria, who is ranked in the top 10 in the world and Europe.

That win set up Friday's semi-final clash with Maksym Tretyak from the Ukraine for a spot in Beijing and once against Nevin, who had Billy Walsh, Zuar Antia and Jim Moore in his corner in Pescara, did the business, coming from behind to secure Olympic qualification after a 32-16 win.

Nevin also had to come from behind to beat Moldavia's Veaceslav Gojan in Saturday's 54Kg final, winning 17-10, and Gary Keegan, who directs the Irish Amateur Boxing Associations High Performance Unit, was more than impressed with the teenager's composure.

He said: "When you see consider his age and the fact that he was competing in his first major tournament it has been a fantastic week for John Joe who has shown remarkable composure in his four fights in Pescara.

"When Gojan was piling on the pressure in the third round in Saturday's final, John Joe was looking at him and smiling just to let him know who exactly was in control of the bout and it is fantastic to see an Irish athlete with such confidence in his own ability in a major final. It has been an outstanding week for John Joe and we are all very proud of his achievement."

Nevin follows in the footsteps of light flyweight Paddy Barnes, who qualified for the 2008 Olympics at the World Championships in Chicago last November.

The final Olympic qualifier for European boxers will take place in Athens between April 7th and 14th.

 Bettini crashes

CYCLING:World champion Paulo Bettini suffered minor injuries yesterday when he crashed out of a second race in as many days, but he is expected to make a quick return to training, his Quick Step team said.

The Olympic road race champion was involved in a collision with a number of other riders 15 kms into the Kuurne-Brussels one-day race.

The crash included Belgian Bart Dockx, who was taken to hospital with a hip injury.

Bettini suffered minor abrasions on his left leg and on his left arm, and a bruise on his back.

The Italian also crashed ou of Saturday's Het Volk race in Ghent.

Ireland end on a high note

CRICKET:A tough two weeks for coach Brían O'Rourke ended on a happy note in Johor Bahru on Saturday as Ireland beat Zimbabwe by six wickets to finish 13th in the Under-19 World Cup.

O'Rourke had targeted a victory over a Test-playing nation as one of Ireland's goals for this trip and although the Africans are currently suspended from the long form of the game, they just about count.

The coach's other main objective - to finish as the leading associate member nation - was not achieved, though, and while Ireland were buoyed by back-to-back wins over Bermuda and Zimbabwe, it should not be forgotten they only came after four successive defeats.

O'Rourke said: "It was brilliant to get two wins in the last two days, it's given everyone a lift. The squad responded to a very difficult first week and this was their reward.

"I think they were genuinely surprised by the size of the gap between ourselves and the Test-playing nations and the manner of those defeats by England and Bangladesh really hurt us.

"Our only really bad day was the first one against Bermuda and I don't think it's any coincidence that loss came immediately after the England and Bangladesh defeats."

O'Rourke picked out Andrew Britton and James Hall as Ireland's two outstanding players over the six games, and both played significant parts in the victory over Zimbabwe.

After early rain had reduced the match to 27 overs per side, Britton took four for 14 with another probing opening spell that won the man-of-the-match award.

But there was heartbreak for Ireland skipper Greg Thompson who was unable to take the one victim he needed to become the all-time leading wicket-taker in Under-19 World Cups as Zimbabwe rallied from 34 for six to 99 for nine.

Even worse, Thompson's final ball saw a regulation catch dropped on the long-on boundary and his final tally of 27 wickets in three tournaments leaves him tied with Australian all-rounder Moses Henriques in the record books.

At Johor Cricket Academy (Ireland won toss): Zimbabwe 99-9 (27 overs) (R Nehonde 43, A Britton 4-14); Ireland 100-4 (23.2 overs) (J Hall 32). Ireland beat Zimbabwe by six wickets.

Hawkins gets across to take Cycleways Cup

CYCLING:Peter Hawkins (Usher Insulations) outsprinted Seán Lacey (EuroBaby) to win the Cycleways Cup in Navan yesterday, the duo finishing 30 seconds ahead of national veterans' champion Martin O'Loughlin (Dan Morrissey) and Greg Swinand (Usher IRC), writes Shane Stokes.

Hawkins was part of an early break which went clear 25 kilometres into the 120 kilometre race and built up a four-minute lead on the main bunch.

Seven of these were still two minutes 15 seconds ahead starting the final lap, and this group was further whittled down to four riders thanks to repeated attacking by O'Loughlin.

Heading towards the finish, Hawkins and O'Loughlin were out front with Swinand and Lacey.

The latter attacked with five kilometres to go, but Hawkins got across and was then strong enough to both contain his rival's final-kilometre attack and easily win the sprint.

Meanwhile in Limerick, local rider Brian Quinn finished one minute and five seconds ahead of St Tiernan's Andre Engerman in the Cycling Pursuits handicap race. Leslie O'Donnell was a further minute and two seconds back in third.

Fiona Meade (St Finbarr's) beat Roisín Kennedy (Usher) and Kate Rudd (MyHome.ie) to win the first round of the Zoo Hair Salon women's national league.

 Loeb triumphs

MOTOR SPORT:France's Sebastien Loeb clinched Rally Mexico for the third year in a row yesterday to cut Mikko Hirvonen's championship lead to a point.

The 34-year-old Citroen driver, chasing his fifth successive world title, beat Australian Chris Atkinson by one minute 6.1 seconds.

Hirvonen now has 21, with Jean-Matti Latvala third on 16 after three rounds. Ford have 37 points to Citroen and Subaru's 25.

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