Six Nations: Ireland ended French hopes of the Six Nations Grand Slam yesterday as they fought off a fierce France second-half comeback to draw 17-17. Two tries by Tommy Bowe and seven points from Jonathan Sexton with Morgan Parra kicking two penalties gave the Irish team a 17-6 half-time lead. However, a try by Wesley Fofana and two more penalties by Parra levelled the game and denied the Irish their first win in Paris since 2000 and only third in 30 years.

Basket, NBA: The depleted Hawks beat NBA-leading side Oklahoma City 97-90 in Atlanta yesterday, snapping the Thunder’s seven-game winning streak. Josh Smith scored 30 points with 12 rebounds for Atlanta, delivering the big game the Hawks needed as they coped with the absence of leading scorer Joe Johnson and reserve guard Willie Green.

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Tennis: Top-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer (picture) won his third straight Acapulco ATP title – and his third title of 2012 – with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over compatriot Fernando Verdasco. Ferrer, ranked sixth in the world, added the title to the one he captured a week earlier in Buenos Aires, and his season-opening victory in Auckland.

Golf: Rory McIlroy moved within one round of seizing golf’s number one world ranking on Saturday as he claimed a two-shot lead at the US PGA Tour’s Honda Classic in Florida. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland, who can supplant England’s Luke Donald atop the rankings with a victory, capped a four-under 66 on the par-70 PGA National course with a birdie from a bunker at the par-five 18th and had a 54-hole total of 11-under 199.

Marathon: Japanese-based Kenyan runner Samuel Ndungu made a perfect marathon debut yesterday by winning the Lake Biwa race. Ndungu, 23, broke away from the eight-man front-running group shortly before the 32-kilometre point to take the lead and never faced a serious challenge afterwards, crossing the line in 2 hr 7 min and 4 sec. Henryk Szost set a new Polish national record of 2:07:39 to finish second, followed by Abdellah Taghrafet, of Morocco, in 2:08:37.

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