D Friday, January 22, 2010 SPORT 21 RESULTS SOCCER afRiCa Cup Of natiOnS gROup D Cameroon ................2 tunisia ..................2 gabon .......................1 Zambia .................2 p W D L f a pts Zambia 3 1 1 1 5 5 4 Cameroon 3 1 1 1 5 5 4 Gabon 3 1 1 1 2 2 4 Tunisia 3 0 3 0 3 3 3 gOLf abu Dhabi gOLf ChampiOnShip (abu Dhabi gC, uaE) first round scores: (gbr & irl unless stated, par 72): 65 Richard Bland, Keith Horne (Rsa), Ian Poulter 66 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Rhys Davies, Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Peter Hanson (Swe), Rory McIlroy, Alexander Noren (Swe), Stephen Dodd, Paul Lawrie 67 Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 68 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Steve Webster, Shiv Kapur (Ind), Paul Waring, Shane Lowry, Todd Hamilton (USA), Mark Foster, Bradley Dredge Other scores: 69 Lee Westwood 70 Henrik Stenson (Swe), Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke, Anthony Kim (USA) 71 Peter Lawrie, Camilo Villegas (Col) 72 Soren Hansen (Den), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Michael Hoey, Paul Casey, 75 Gareth Maybin, 79 Damien McGrane tEnniS auStRaLian OpEn mens Singles 2nd rd, selected: (18) Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) 4-6 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-3, (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Taylor Dent (USA) 6-4 6-3 6-3, (1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt Victor Hanescu (Rom) 6-2 6-3 6-2, (9) Fernando Verdasco (Spa) bt Ivan Sergeyev (Ukr) 6-1 6-2 6-2, (22) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Donald Young (USA) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-1, (3) Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt Marco Chiudinelli (Swi) 3-6 6-1 6-1 6-3, (6) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Illya Marchenko (Ukr) 6-3 6-3 6-0 Womens Singles 2nd rd, selected: (1) Serena Williams (USA) bt Petra Kvitova (Cze) 6-2 6-1, (10) Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (Rus) 6-0 6-2, Gisela Dulko (Arg) bt (20) Ana Ivanovic (Ser) 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 6-4, (4) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Julia Goerges (Ger) 6-3 6-1, (9) Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Iveta Benesova (Cze) 6-0 6-3, (7) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Stefanie Voegele (Swi) 6-4 6-0, (6) Venus Williams (USA) bt Sybille Bammer (Aut) 6-2 7-5. bernard brogans stunning solo effort almost denied his county colleagues victory in last nights challenge match agianst a St Declans College allStars selection. brogan hit eight points but Dublin won out 0-12 to 0-10 at St brigids. in the hurling encounter, John Kelly fired 2-5 as the blues claimed a 3-23 to 3-12 success. Brogan almost downs Dubs Picture:Sportsfile GAA griffin: fit for meath clash Skipper Griffin backing Gilroys policy of change Kildare aim for OByrne KIERAN McGEENEY has told his Kildare players he expects them to win the OByrne Cup. Last seasons beaten Leinster finalists are taking the pre-season competition serious and are not bothering to blood new players. Instead, McGeeney is expected to field another strong side against Laois on Sunday that includes regulars Dermot Earley, Ronan Sweeney and Rob Kelly. I want to win it every year, said McGeeney. I didnt go out last year to compete in the OByrne Cup and lose it. Dublin have strengthened their squad for Sundays Obyrne Cup clash with bitter rivals Meath, recalling captain Paul Griffin and David Henry, writes Paul Keane. Griffin did not feature in the panel against Wexford last weekend but returns in one of four changes to the panel. The leinster championship winning skipper is joined by corner-back Henry, utility player Derek Murray and ballybodens star wing-back Darragh nelson. boss Pat Gilroys hand was forced as full-forward Eoghan OGara is suspended after his red card against Wexford. brendan McManamon, who starred with 0-4 as a substitute in the tie, picked up a knock and is out along with defender James McCarthy. Returning skipper Griffin says the Meath derby is a great chance for Gilroy, who has promised a team shake-up, to assess the battling qualities of his newcomers. lots of new guys came in from the Dublin championship, the likes of the ballyboden and St Judes players, and theyre pushing hard, said Griffin. We are using the Obyrne Cup to give those guys game time, let them impress and build towards the league. Griffin accepts that some form of change is needed in the Dublin ranks after heavy All- ireland defeats at the hands of Kerry and Tyrone. if you win five provincial titles you would at least expect to be competing in one All-ireland final, said Griffin. unfortunately, we have not got to that stage so we have to look at ourselves and ask is there something else that can be done. Meath boss Eamonn Obrien has promised to test a few more players against the Dubs though will likely retain new boys Jamie Queeney, who hit 1-3 against longford, Conor Gillespie and Eoin Gilsenan. RUGBY HEINEKEN CUP Exiles tilt can be a classic, says Gaffney By Gareth Makim JIM MALLINDER is confident his Northampton Saints side can pull off their mission improbable in Limerick tonight and beat Munster to reach the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. If we play to our potential and stick to our game-plan there is no reason why we cant win, said boss Mallinder. Munster are playing very well. But so are we and we will take a lot of confidence from that. lEinSTER consultant coach Alan Gaff- ney is predicting a Heineken Cup classic when the defending champions takes on london irish at Twickenham tomorrow. The Exiles are targeting a bonus-point victory to give themselves the chance of overhauling leaders leinster in Pool 6 or of claiming a quarter-final berth as a top runner-up, while leinster have admitted they are still smarting from the 12-9 defeat by london irish at the RDS in October. And with both sides well known for their attacking abilities, Gaffney believes neu- trals could be in for a treat. Absolutely, the Australian said. both sides want to win. We obviously want to win, not only because of the table and this is not being said in a nasty way but we owe them one. The boys know it. They were disappoint- ed at what happened at the RDS. Thats not taking anything away from irish. They de- served to win that night. but we are still disappointed by what happened and the boys would like to turn that around. Gaffney is well aware of the Exiles at- tacking capabilities from his time in charge of london rivals Saracens but insists lein- ster will not be afraid to take the game to their hosts. He added: You cant become loose and play sevens rugby against them. Theyve got a lot of pace. but it doesnt mean you cant attack them. i think we can play a fairly control- led game which will be very positive.isa cool: Leinster back nacewa in training this week GOLF IAN POuLtER holed a mammoth 70ft putt on the final green to earn a share of a one-stroke first-round lead at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship after carding a bogey-free seven-under-par 65. South African Keith Horne, who finished second last week in Johannesburg, and Southampton resident Richard Bland matched Poulters effort to top the leaderboard ahead of a group of nine at six-under-par, including Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy. Garcia recovered from back-to- back early bogeys, while McIlroy blamed a mental error for a double-bogey, although he did respond in style with two consecutive birdies. Im very happy, the Irishman said. Apart from that one loose tee shot it was really good. I made a lot of birdies and converted a lot of my chances. So anytime you open up a tournament with a 66 youve got to be happy. Meanwhile, Offalys Shane Lowry also made a promising start, shooting a 68 that included five birdies. Rorys hot on heels of Poulter in Abu Dhabi Old boys network: mark Cahill of St Declans in action against Stephen OShaughnessy index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html