Niland marches into Israel final
Conor Niland yesterday extended his fine run in the ATP Challenger Israel Open by sealing a place in the final of the $100,000 hardcourt event, writes paddy hickey.
The Limerick man demolished Denis Gremelmayr 7-5 6-1 to secure a showdown with Brazil's No 4 seed Thiago Alves .
Niland is ranked No 222 in the world but his march to the final has earned him 60 points, and he is set to break into the top 200, becoming the second-highest ranked player in the history of Irish tennis after Matt Doyle.
The unseeded Irishman made the crucial move in the opener when he broke his opponent at 6-5, and won two more breaks in the second set.
"My serve and forehand were very good today, and that gave Gremelmayr a lot of trouble, and particularly in the second set," said a delighted Niland, who was cheered on by the Irish ambassador to Israel.
After an injury lay-off, Gremelmayr's ranking has slipped to 314, but earlier in the week he dumped out world no 78 Yen-Tsun Lu, whom Louk Sorensen beat in the Australian Open, and Austria's 117-ranked Stefan Koubek.
Alves, who is ranked at 116, edged Turkey's 123-ranked Marsel Ilhan, whom Niland beat in the Davis Cup tie in Dublin in March, 7-5 6-4 in the other semi-final.
Former world champion Wayne McCullough will return to action on May 29 in Barry Hearn's latest Prizefighter tournament at London's York Hall.
Belfast-born McCullough (39), who lives in Las Vegas, won the WBC bantamweight crown in 1995 and has also challenged for world titles at super-bantamweight and featherweight. However, he has not fought since June 2008 and not won a fight since 2004.
Ballyclare man Jonathan Rea was second in opening qualifying behind Cal Crutchlow for Sunday's World Superbike Championship Italian round at Monza.
Rea, who earned a double success in the previous round in Assen, was two tenths of a second behind Crutchlow.
Italian Michel Fabrizio was third quickest while series leader Leon Haslam took fifth.
Toomebridge rider Eugene Laverty was fastest in Supersport qualifying ahead of Spain's David Salom.
The An Post/Sean Kelly team return to action tomorrow in the Circuit de Wallonie in Belgium.
The Sean Kelly outfit are fresh from a three-week break from racing and team manager Kurt Bogaerts has named a seven-man team to compete in the race. Included in the line up are Irishmen Ronan McLaughlin, Mark Cassidy and Matt Brammeier.
At home, the Shay Elliott Memorial is down for decision in Wicklow. Favourite is Adam Armstrong of the Eurocyles team.
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Irish Independent
