D Friday, November 27, 2009 METROSPORT 29 TENNIS: Andy Murray claimed his second round-robin victory at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with an epic 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3) win over Fernando Verdasco yesterday, but had to wait on the result of last nights match between Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro to find out whether he would go through to the semi-finals at Londons O2 Arena. The British No.1 went into the match knowing a straight-sets win would secure his progress regardless, but Verdasco dug in to push Murray to the limit. Murray said: I thought it was an unbelievable match. Its probably the longest three-set match Ive ever played. And Im still not definitely in the semi-finals so it would kill me if I didnt get through. SNOOKER: World Snooker has revealed major expansion plans to more than double the number of ranking events. More overseas tournaments will be played on the new World Snooker Tour next season. The move will be popular among players concerned by a dwindling number of major events there are only six on this years calendar and is being introduced to capitalise on growing interest in countries where snooker has had a low profile. Sir Rodney Walker, World Snooker chairman, said: We hope the players and promoters will recognise the opportunities of being part of this ambitious plan and help in bringing it to fruition. RUGBY: The English RFUs elite rugby boss Rob Andrew insists Martin Johnson will lead England to the 2011 World Cup. Andrew stressed how badly Johnsons autumn Test plans were hit by an increasing injury toll, with up to 40 per cent of his squad unavailable. He said: Martin has never used injuries as an excuse. We appointed him 18 months ago to take the team to the World Cup in 2011. There will be some bumps in the road and we will learn from those and into the Six Nations and beyond. The transformation from the autumn last year to the end of the Six Nations was there for everybody to see. We are confident around the ability of that coaching team to take this team forward. CYCLING: Tour de France champion Alberto Contador has confirmed he will remain with the Astana team for 2010. After a turbulent 2009, Contador had threatened to leave the Kazakh- funded outfit, but he announced last week he had reached a preliminary deal that depended on the team retaining their ProTour licence. The International Cycling Union said the teams licence had been approved on Wednesday and the 26-year-old Spaniard said: I had reached a pre- agreement with the team, but everything depended on the licence. I think Ive taken the best decision possible. The only thing I can guarantee now is Ill fight 100 per cent for the Tour de France. SPORTDigest Support: Johnson Cavan pinch ex-underage Dublin star Cavan will draft in top Dublin club player Gareth Smith to cover the loss of ace forward Ger Pierson. Smith (pictured) won an all- Ireland Under-21 medal with Dublin in 2003 and is rated one of the top club players in the county. He featured in the OByrne Cup last January for Dublin but after failing to earn a regular place on the county panel he has thrown in his lot with Cavan. He is eligible to do so as his parents are from the Breffni County and boss Tommy Carr, the former Dublin manager, has swooped. Carr will use left-footed Smith, to replace Pierson, who plans to live and work in London. Pierson has informed boss Carr he is pulling out of the panel and is joining London side Tr Chonaill Gaels. Carr is under pressure to deliver in 2010 after a difficult season that saw him barely hold on to his job. gaa Crisis talks in Limerick LImerICk officials have pencilled in next Thursday night for crisis talks about the rift between hurling boss Justin mcCarthy and his players. mcCarthy axed a number of experienced regulars from his pre- season panel prompting eight more stars to quit in fury. That has left mcCarthy with just four players remaining from the side that started the all-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary. mcCarthy has the backing of the board but officials have been urged to hold crisis talks by local clubs and have pencilled in December 3 as the date. meanwhile, a similar meeting to resolve the problems in neighbouring Clare between boss mike mcnamara and his players is expected on monday night. RUgBY INTERNATIONALS South AfricAS experiment of playing John Smit at prop appears over after restoring their captain to hooker for tomorrows clash with ireland. Smits shortcomings at tighthead have been exposed this autumn by france and italy with the Springbok scrum being demolished in both matches. But the 31-year-old, rugbys longest- serving test captain with 66 caps as skipper, has been returned to his usual position in the number two jersey. South Africa rejigged their front row in the second half against italy last Saturday, bringing on props tendai Mtawarira and BJ Botha and switching Smit, to great effect and the trio start en bloc at croke Park. in total, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has made six changes two positional to the side that thumped italy 32-10. Wian du Preez and Adriaan Strauss make way for Mtawarira and BJ Botha, who plays for ulster, while world class lock Victor Matfield returns. Schalk Burger who received an eight- week ban for eye-gouging ireland winger Luke fitzgerald during the Lions tour this summer returns at openside flanker. the only change to the back-line sees Wynand olivier starting at inside centre. Munster centre Jean de Villiers and Leinster prop cJ van der Linde are among the replacements. South Africa (v Ireland): Z Kirchner; J Pietersen, J Fourie, W Olivier, B Habana; M Steyn, F du Preez; T Mtawarira, J Smit (capt), BJ Botha, B Botha, V Matfield, H Brussow, S Burger, D Rossouw. Replacements: B du Plessis, CJ van der Linde, A Bekker, J Deysel (Sharks), D Potgieter, R Pienaar, J de Villiers. Smit to lead from familiar setting Proper order: Smit Proud Healy ready to get stuck into the Springboks BY GARETh MAKIM front row hardman cian healy has admitted standing in line for the irish anthems before his international de- but against Australia was a bit of a jerker ahead of his second cap against South Africa tomorrow. healy, who missed last weekends win over fiji with a minor shoulder injury, has been reinstated to face the world champions at croke Park but revealed his emotions took him by surprise in the build-up to the encoun- ter with the Wallabies. it was a strange feeling. it was kind of surreal, said Leinster prop healy. i was pretty close [to tears]. its a bit of a jerker alright. i just had to zone back out of it and focus on rugby and not my singing abilities. i got stuck in the moment there for a second and had to try and leave it behind and get back into game mode, but it was a very proud moment for me. Afterwards, i had time to think back on the occasion and how huge it was. healys ball-carrying abilities shone through in the 20-20 draw with Aus- tralia, but it is in the scrum where the Springboks and their fearsome front row will test the 22-year-old. Since [coach Declan Kidney] told me i was in the team ive been buzz- ing, he added. its an opportunity im going to relish and im looking forward to going aganist such a qual- ity scrum. they are a great front row but its given us a great challenge. healys Leinster team-mate cJ van der Linde has been named among South African substitutes and the young Dubliner is relishing the pos- sibility of facing a man he admits to learning a great deal from. he said: itll be great to scrummage against a friend. i suppose hes watched an awful lot in training and i havent gotten to see him in a while. ill have to do a bit more study on him. its not one on one, its the whole scrum, but itll be good to be able to scrummage straight on him and may- be have a bit of a wind-up after it about one or two scrums. Loose cannon: healy is hoping to make another big impact LEINSTER back row Sean OBrien has replaced Denis Leamy on the bench for Irelands concluding autumn Test against South Africa. Leamy has failed to recover from the ankle injury sustained in last Saturdays 41-6 win over Fiji. OBrien won his first cap against the Fijians, coming on as a second-half replacement for Leamy. A statement released by Ireland read: Leamy was undergoing rehabilitation throughout the week and while he has progressed well, the injury has not recovered fully to allow him to take his position among the replacements. OBrien in for injured Leamy Picture:ActionImages index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html32.html33.html34.html35.html