Sports round-up

Snooker: Australia Open – (first round) Davis bt Trump 5-3; Murphy bt Higginson 5-3; Ford bt Cope 5-3; McLeod bt Ebdon 5-3; Hendry bt Gould 5-3; Gilbert bt J. Mifsud 5-1.

Swimming: Australian swimmer Nick D’Arcy was yesterday ordered to pay damages of at least $190,000 to a former swimmer he hit during celebrations marking his selection to the Beijing Olympic team. D’Arcy, who has made a stunning return to form after losing his place on the squad over the incident, pleaded guilty in 2009 to recklessly causing grievous bodily harm to Simon Cowley and was given a 14-month suspended sentence. Cowley needed surgery to his face to repair the fractures.

Athletics: An Iraqi trainer has been arrested for taking part in the beating of three national athletics team members and their Algerian coach. Karokh Saleh was detained along with another man after they were said to be part of a group of around 20 men who attacked Nureddine Tajine and three Iraqi sprinters with knives and iron rods. Saleh is a former coach of Gulistan Mahmud, one of Iraq’s most successful sprinters, who is now coached by Tajine.

Golf: Former National Hockey League all-star Joe Sakic made a $1 million hole-in-one during a celebrity golf tournament on Sunday. Sakic aced the par-three 17th hole at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in Nevada. The two-time Stanley Cup winner will keep $500,000 with the other half going to Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Foundation. Sakic won a gold medal with Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Rugby: A young Australian rugby player died yesterday from injuries he received in a weekend Brisbane club match. The family of University of Queensland forward Halley Appleby, 21, turned off his life support yesterday. Appleby lost consciousness after being tackled playing in a match against GPS and initial reports said he sustained brain and spinal injuries and was declared brain dead on Sunday. Police said they would compile a report for the coroner to determine how Appleby died.