Barry forced out of Cup tie

IRELAND have suffered an early blow ahead of their forthcoming Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round tie against Belarus after Sam Barry was forced out of the tie with a hip injury.

Barry will not play any competitive tennis for four weeks and it is hoped he will be fit again for the home tie against either Egypt or Moldova in early April.

Garry Cahill, Captain of the BNP Paribas Irish Davis Cup Team, today announced that 23 year old David O'Hare will replace Sam Barry in the team.

O'Hare is currently on scholarship at the University of Memphis and is part of the third-ranked doubles pair in all of collegiate tennis in the US.

It is likely he will pair up with doubles specialist James Cluskey (world ranking 150) in this challenging tie in Minsk. This is a first Davis Cup selection for O'Hare.

The team of Daniel Glancy, John Morrissey, James Cluskey and David O'Hare will travel to Minsk on Sunday January 26 in advance of the first round tie which takes place at the Republic Olympic Tennis Centre in Minsk from January 3 - February 2.

ROBERTSON ON CUE

SNOOKER: Neil Robertson won a dramatic final-frame decider to knock Mark Allen out of the Masters for the third year in succession. The match was not of the highest quality but Robertson showed great resolve to come from behind five times before taking the deciding frame.

Robertson next faces Stephen Maguire, who beat Joe Perry 6-4 on Monday.

O'FLANAGAN EXCELS

HOCKEY: A brace of goals from UCD's Anna O'Flanagan saw the Irish women's team beat Spain 2-0 in Terassa in Catalonia and seal a 2-1 series victory with one drawn game amongst the two sides in a four-game trip.

After a scoreless first half Ireland stepped up a gear after the break with O'Flanagan converting early on to give the visitors the lead. Ireland had to weather a lot of Spanish pressure before O'Flanagan struck again late on with a great deflected goal.

The Irish men were beaten 5-3 by their Spanish counterparts.

SRI LANKA BLOW

CRICKET: Sri Lanka suffered the early loss of Kaushal Silva as they reached 64 for one at lunch on the opening day of the third Test against Pakistan in Sharjah.

Silva was removed for 17 by Mohammad Talha in the 15th over of the day as Pakistan made a strong start to their bid to pull level in the three-match series, which they trail 1-0.