A round-up of today's other Sports news in brief...
Hick to end county career
CRICKET: Former England batsman Graeme Hick will retire from the county game at the end of the season, his Worcestershire team said yesterday.
The 42-year-old, who has been suffering from a chronic elbow injury, will this month bring the curtain down on an illustrious county career that never quite translated to the international stage.
The Zimbabwean-born Hick has averaged 52.23 with the bat and became the 16th player to pile up more than 40,000 first-class runs.
He was named by Wisden as one of their cricketers of the year in 1987 and this year scored his 136th century, placing him eighth on the all-time first-class list.
The hard-hitting batsman averaged 31.32 in 65 Tests for England after making his debut against West Indies at Headingley, Leeds in 1991.
Magic wand helps Singh to third title in five weeks
GOLF: Vijay Singh, helped by three monster birdie putts, eased to his third PGA Tour title in five weeks with a five-shot victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday.
Three off the pace overnight, the Fijian fired a superb eight-under-par 63 in difficult, if sun-drenched conditions at the TPC Boston for a 22-under total of 262.
Singh broke clear of a congested leaderboard with an outward nine of four-under 32, before tightening his grip with an astonishing putting display on a course running fast and firm.
Canadian Mike Weir, one ahead going into the final round, surrendered the lead with a double-bogey at the ninth and had to settle for second place after a 71.
Ernie Els birdied the last for a 70 to share third at 14 under with Colombian Camilo Villegas (73).
Singh, who won the Barclays Classic eight days ago in a play-off with Sergio Garcia, has overtaken Padraig Harrington as the world number three.
Students start well in Sun City
GOLF: Brendan Walton of The Island and Niamh Kitching of the University of Limerick got off to fine starts in the 12th World University Championships in South Africa yesterday.
Walton, a student at NUI Maynooth, shot an opening three-over-par 75 at the Gary Player Golf Course in Sun City for a share of ninth behind Italy's Leonardo Motta, who held a one-shot lead after a four-under 68.
Kitching was in a share of sixth after a five-over 77, five shots behind leader Katie Tewell of the US.
In the team competition, the Ireland men are 11th, while the women are sixth.
• The second day in the 72-hole West Coast Challenge produced excellent scoring.
Best of 501 players were 2006 overall winner John Fennell (The Heath) and Bodenstown's Frank Lockhead, who shared a 42 points.
Individual Leaderboard: 80pts - J Fennell (The Heath); 78 — M Dunmore (Bundoran); 76 — M McLaughlin (Blacklion), J Mulvihill (Newcastle West), JB Conroy (The Heath).
Ireland open battle at Muirfield
GOLF: A new-look Irish side goes hunting for glory in the senior Home International championships this morning at Muirfield.
There are four new caps in the line-up - Eoin Arthurs, Alan Dunbar, Dara Lernihan and Cathal O'Malley - while five of the six players who brought Ireland their second successive European team title in July are playing.
Lurgan's Gareth Shaw, who was in the victorious side in Turin, has turned professional.
Dunbar (18), from Rathmore, was captain of the Irish side which won the recent Boys internationals at Royal County Down and played a major part in the Jacques Leglise Trophy success at the weekend.
Arthurs won the East of Ireland championship in June, while Lernihan was runner-up to Paul O'Hanlon in the Close championship.
Ireland, despite winning the past two European championships have not lifted the Home International title since 2003 at Ballybunnion.
Bolt in a sprint class of his own as Hession's good form continues
ATHLETICS: Usain Bolt was once again in a sprint class of own in winning the 200 metres at last night's Lausanne Grand Prix in Switzerland, with Ireland's Paul Hession among those left behind in the chase, writes Ian O'Riordan.
Hession still ran well, taking fifth in 20.65 seconds, but like the rest of the world class line-up, was no match for the Jamaican triple world record holder, who clocked 19.63 - the second fastest time of the season after his own world record of 19.30, set when winning the Olympic title.
Bolt visibly eased up, yet still had a massive winning margin over Churandy Martina of the Dutch Antilles, who took second in 20.24, with the American Wallace Spearman third in 20.54.
Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe just got the better of Hession in fourth, running 20.62 to the Galway athelete's 20.65.
With five Olympic finalists in the line-up, Hession once again mixed it with very good company, although at this stage of the season it looks unlikely he will improve on his Irish record of 20.30 for perhaps another year.
There was another stunning sprint performance earlier in the evening from fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell - who nearly upstaged Bolt by coming very close to the 9.69 world record that Bolt produced when winning the Olympic 100 metres title.
Powell ran a superb 9.72, equalling the second fastest 100 metres of all time.
Leading from start to finish, his 9.72 also equalled the old world record Bolt had set back in June, before improving on it in Beijing.
It was a lifetime best for Powell, bettering his old mark of 9.77 which at the start of the season had been the joint world record.
Second was the American Walter Dix, who ran 9.92, with the other Jamaican Nester Carter running a personal best of 9.98 in third.
