Radcliffe after 10,000m glory
Athletics: Paula Radcliffe, who was non-committal in September when she was named by England for both events, said yesterday that she would give the 10,000 metres priority at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March and that she would defend her 5,000 metres title only if it fitted in with her training closer to the Flora London Marathon in April.
Hayley Tullett, of Wales, scored a third victory in four years when winning the New Balance Games indoor mile title in New York at the weekend. Tullett, troubled by a sciatic nerve for the past 18 months, won in 4min 29.23sec.
Grönholm holds on
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Motor rallying: Marcus Grönholm, of Finland, held on to win the Monte Carlo rally yesterday, despite an outstanding drive by Sébastien Loeb, the world champion. The Ford driver took the lead on Friday when Loeb, of France, was given a five-minute penalty after he failed to complete the last stage of the day because of a crash. Loeb won five stages on Saturday, but Grönholm finished 1min 1sec ahead.
Morales stopped
Boxing: Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, handed Erik Morales the worst beating of his career before stopping him in the tenth round of a WBC super featherweight title eliminator in Las Vegas. It was the first time that Morales, of Mexico, had been stopped in his career.
Steelers feat
American football: The Pittsburgh Steelers reached their first Super Bowl in a decade with a surprise 34-17 play-off victory away to the Denver Broncos last night. No team had previously won three away play-off games to reach the Super Bowl or beat the top three seeds to do so.
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Jayasuriya joy
Cricket: Sanath Jayasuriya, the Sri Lanka batsman, overcame jet lag and a shoulder injury to flay the Australia bowlers and set up a 51-run victory in a one-day triangular series match in Sydney yesterday. Jayasuriya’s 114 off 96 balls helped Sri Lanka to 309 for seven.
Scotland second
Golf: Annika Sorenstam and Liselotte Neumann, of Sweden, enjoyed a three-stroke victory in the Women’s World Cup yesterday in Sun City, South Africa. Catriona Matthew and Janice Moodie, from Scotland, were second.
Holders prevail
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Bowls: Carol Ashby and John Price retained the WBT World Indoor Mixed Pairs Matchplay title at Potters Leisure Resort, Norfolk, yesterday, when they defeated Amy Monkhouse and Robert Weale 13-3, 8-8 in the final.
Rodgers to fore
Golf: Chris Rodgers, of England, claimed his maiden Asian Tour title with victory in the Pakistan Open yesterday. Rodgers, 29, won by four shots after a par 72 for a total of 273 at the Karachi Golf Club.