SPORTS DIGEST:EQUESTRIAN: Three Irish riders ended up in hospital yesterday following falls on the cross-country phase at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in England, writes Margie McLoone.
Co Meath’s Elizabeth Power had to be airlifted to hospital as she was knocked unconscious after a fall from Kilpatrick River. She regained consciousness en route to hospital and expects to be released from today.
Sarah Wardell (Killeenduff Boy) was still being assessed yesterday evening but Camilla Speirs (Portersize Just A Jiff) had been allowed leave the hospital.
New Zealand’s Mark Todd leads the four-star event on a score of 43.6 penalties while the best-placed Irish rider is Aoife Sisk in 22nd place on 57.2 with Vaguely North.
Cian O’Connor won yesterday’s opening round of the TRM/Showjumping Ireland premier series Grand Prix at Louth County show on his own Larkhill Cruiser.
Ellis snatches victory from Maguire
GOLF:England's Charlotte Ellis staged a smash-and-grab charge over the last few holes to win the Helen Holm Scottish Women's Open Strokeplay from Ireland's Leona Maguire over the Royal Troon Golf's Open Championship links yesterday.
Trailing Leona by 3 strokes with six holes to play, the 25-year-old former English mid-amateur champion birdied the 13th, 15th and 16th holes to trail by one stroke.
Both parred the short 17th and then tragically Leona, who had made all the running from the start of the 54-hole tournament, ran up a double bogey six at the last, taking three shots to get on the green and a further three putts from six feet.
Ellis two putted for a cast-iron par-4 and a 71 to lift the title. Leona finished with a 73 for 11 under par 214, just one shot adrift. Ireland’s Leona and Lisa Maguire won the Nations Cup ahead of England, Scotland, Belgium and Germany.
Goerges stuns Wozniacki to claim Stuttgart Grand Prix
TENNIS:Rank outsider Julia Goerges of Germany stunned world number one Caroline Wozniacki 7-6 6-3 in the Stuttgart Grand Prix yesterday to win her first title of the year in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
Goerges outplayed her opponent, winner of three titles already this year, on the fast indoor clay court, giving the Dane no chance of a title she has yet to win.
After converting her second match point, Goerges sank to her feet and then lay flat on the red clay as the crowd cheered for the first German winner of the country’s biggest women’s tennis event since Anke Huber in 1994. Goerges won €76,000 and a sports car.
“I don’t quite know how I did it,” she beamed. “Against Caroline it feels like you always have a mountain to climb and I did it.”
Goerges had lost both previous encounters with the Dane but she pinned Wozniacki back from the start, playing the Dane’s backhand constantly and forcing her into making errors.
Selby closing in on last eight spot
SNOOKER:Mark Selby outshone three great gladiators of the Crucible and left a tortured Stephen Hendry facing near-certain defeat in their World Championship clash. Selby was installed as the tournament's new favourite after setting an all-time record by reaching six centuries in his clash with seven-time champion Hendry.
The 27-year-old was majestic as he secured a 12-4 lead to carry into today’s concluding afternoon session, when he will require just one more frame to reach the quarter-finals.
After breaks of 125, 108 and 129 yesterday, the 27-year-old rifled in 100, 127 and 117 and then rubbed Hendry’s nose in the dirt when snookers were required in the final frame by drawing five fouls from the Scot and coming from 48 points behind to take it 77-76.
The only consolation for Hendry was that he avoided defeat with a session to spare in what could be his last Crucible match, 25 years after losing in his first against Willie Thorne. Hendry, now 42, will consider retirement this summer and a two-session exit would have been no way for arguably the sport’s greatest ever player to sign off.
Hendry managed to take three of the middle session’s eight frames, but neither he nor Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy, former world champions embroiled in a tense battle on the other table, went near to matching Selby’s remarkable performance.
While Selby was carving up Hendry, Murphy cut into O’Sullivan’s lead to set up what should be a thrilling finale this evening.
O’Sullivan was 6-2 ahead at the start of play, but Murphy trimmed that advantage to 9-7. Neither man went close to matching Selby’s stunning form though, with no century in the match yet.
Runs of 95 and 59 saw O’Sullivan go from 7-5 to 9-5 in front, but Murphy finished strongly with 83 to take frame 15 and then kept O’Sullivan pointless in the last of the session.
Gilbert keeps win run going
CYCLING: Philippe Gilbert of Belgium won his fourth classic in 10 days when he triumphed in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race yesterday. Gilbert, already the winner of the Fleche Brabanconne, Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallone, finished ahead of Frank Schleck of Luxembourg.
Third was Schlecks brother and team -mate, Andy.
Gilbert, who rides for the Omega Pharma-Lotto team, outsprinted the brothers at the finish to become Belgium’s first winner of the race in 12 years.
