Hurricane Fly’s to Champion Double
Hurricane Fly landed his second BHP Insurance Irish Champion Hurdle in the rain at Leopardstown yesterday.  Such was the impression of his comeback win that he is now generally quoted at odds on to do a second double at Cheltenham in March.
The buzz around Leopardstown yesterday was that he could yet prove to be one of the greatest ever hurdlers.  Senior Handicapper Noel O’Brien rated him on a mark of 173, only 1lb behind the highest level achieved in his day by Istabraq.
Yesterday was the first race for nine months for the champion and while he appeared subdued in the parade ring beforehand there was never a moment’s doubt in the race that Mark Phelan, who founded BHP insurance in 1998, the first year Istabraq won the Champion Hurdle, would be handing over the trophy to connections of his natural heir.
Egan returns to top of Domestic Boxing scene
Ken Egan and Joe Ward will face each other next Friday in the Light Heavyweight division decider at the Elite Championship Boxing Finals in the National Stadium.  The bout is a repeat of last year’s final when Ward won to dent Egan an 11th straight national title.
Egan was well ahead when his Saturday night semi final against Eamon Walsh was stopped in the second round due to a facial injury.
The Irish Amateur Boxing Association is supported by the Irish Daily Star and O’Neills.
 “Isles of Wonder” to open Olympics
The London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony show will be called Isles of Wonder and will be inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
The ceremony will precede the arrival into the stadium of athletes from Ireland and around the world.  The global television extravaganza will start at 9pm on Sunday 27th July.
Danny Boyle, who first came to prominence as director of the cult classic movie Trainspotting and achieved worldwide fame with Slumdog Millionaire is the Artistic director of the show.
The budget for the opening and closing ceremonies is estimated to be around €90-95 million, funded partly through commercial revenues and partly by public money.  The opening ceremony for Beijing 2008 was estimated to have cost over €250 million.
Weekend GAA hit by weather
Bord na Mona were an appropriate sponsor of the O’Byrne Cup as heavy rain turned the pitch into a bog and forced the postponement of the final between Kildare and DCU at St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge.
Cork easily saw off Tipperary in the final of the McGrath Cup in Munster while Tyrone came from six points behind against Derry to land the McKenna Cup in Ulster.
International sporting weekend in review
Novak Djokovic beat Rafa Nadal to retain his Australian Open title after the longest Grand Slam final in history.  The Serbian star came through 7-5 in the final set after breaking Nadal in the 11th game.  The match lasted five hours and 53 minutes and was hailed by many as one of the best matches ever.
Liverpool knocked Man United out of the FA Cup on Saturday while Arsenal came back from 2-0 down to defeat Aston Villa.  Villa played with five Republic of Ireland internationals in their starting line up.
Across Europe it was reported that Jose Mourinho will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season regardless of whether he wins their first domestic title in four years and the first Champions’ League in over a decade.
Rory McIlroy finished second to Robert Rock in the HSBC Abu Dhabi Classic.  He lost by one shot having picked up a two shot penalty earlier in the tournament but is clearly in fine form as the season picks up momentum. Graham McDowell finished third after a strong finish.  He scored a hole in one on the 12th, earning him a three night stay at the seven star Emirates Palace Resort every year for the rest of his life.