ON THIS DAY

1971: Muhammad Ali's return to boxing faltered when he failed in his bid to regain the world heavyweight title, beaten on points over 15 rounds by Joe Frazier in New York.

1989: Canadian Cliff Thorburn made his second career 147 break - becoming the first snooker player officially acknowledged to have compiled two maximums.

1992: Waterford IT, then known as Waterford RTC, won their first Fitzgibbon Cup after defeating University of Limerick in the final.



1998: Jordanstown's Sigerson Cup hopes fell at the final stage as they lost 0-10 to 0-8 to an IT Tralee side playing on their own patch.

2007: Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo revealed that talks had begun over a new contract at Old Trafford. The Portuguese star signed a five-year deal the following month but left to join Real Madrid in 2009.

2008: Tomas McCann found the net twice as UUJ enjoyed a 2-12 to 0-10 win over DIT to qualify for the Sigerson Cup final.

2008: Wales won the Triple Crown with a 16-12 defeat of Ireland in the RBS 6 Nations at Croke Park. They went on to win the grand slam.

2009: Dwain Chambers won a gold medal for Britain at the European Indoor Championships with victory in the 60 metres.

2012: A Scottish Football Association independent inquiry ruled Rangers chairman Craig Whyte 'is not a fit and proper person to hold a position in football'. Rangers were also charged with bringing the game into disrepute after going into administration.

2014: Brian O'Driscoll bade an emotional but victorious farewell to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin as Ireland kept their RBS 6 Nations title hopes alive with a crushing 46-7 win over Italy.

2015: World indoor champion Richard Kilty blasted to 60m gold at the European Indoor Championships in Prague as he held his nerve after team-mate Chijindu Ujah was disqualified for a false start to take the victory at the O2 Arena in 6.51 seconds.

2015: Monaghan continued their good form against Donegal as they left Letterkenny with a 0-9 to 1-4 Division One League win.

2016: Brian Smith, the former Hull and Bradford head coach, resigned as boss of Wakefield

BIRTHDAYS

Phil Edmonds (cricket) - former England and Middlesex spinner, born 1951.

David Wilkie (swimming) - first British male swimmer to win Olympic gold medal for 68 years when victorious in 200 metres breaststroke in 1976, born 1954.

Enda Gormley (Gaelic games) All-Ireland winner with Derry and Glen U21 manager, born 1966.

Kit Symons (soccer) - former Portsmouth, Manchester City, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Wales defender and ex-Fulham manager, born 1971.

Fergal O'Brien (snooker) - 1999 British Open winner, born 1972.

Ross Taylor (cricket) - New Zealand batsman, born 1984.

Petra Kvitova (tennis) - Wimbledon winner in 2011 and 2014, born 1990.

Asier Illarramendi (soccer) - former Real Madrid midfielder, now back with first club Real Sociedad, born 1990.

Duncan Watmore (soccer) - England Under-21 and Sunderland winger, born 1994.

QUICK QUIZ BLITZ

1. Which club finished top of the Sky Bet League Two table in the

2015-16 season?



2. Which club won the 2016 Super Rugby title?



3. Which two drivers will make up Ferrari's team for the 2017 Formula

One season?



4. Who won the women's 100 metres final at Rio 2016?



5. Who scored Slaughtneil's goal in their All-Ireland camogie triumph over Sarsfields?

6. How many times has Down won the Sam Maguire?

(See quiz answers at bottom)

SPORT ON TV

Today (Wednesday, March 8)

SOCCER: Champions League last 16, Barcelona v Paris St Germain - BT Sport 2 1900, Borussia Dortmund v Benfica - eir Sport 1 1930.

CRICKET: Second Test, India v Australia - Sky Sports 2 0600; First Test, New Zealand v South Africa - Sky Sports 2 2150.

TENNIS: WTA, Indian Wells - BT Sport 1 1900.

GOLF: European Tour, Indian Open - Sky Sports 4 0530 (Thurs).

SNOOKER: Players Championship - ITV4 1245 and 1845.

CYCLING: Tirreno-Adriatico - Eurosport 2 1300; Paris-Nice - Eurosport 1 1430.

BASKETBALL: NBA, Golden State Warriors v Boston Celtics - BT Sport 2 0330 (Thurs).

Tomorrow (Thursday, March 9)

CRICKET: One-day international, West Indies v England - Sky Sports 2 1300; First Test, New Zealand v South Africa - Sky Sports 2 2150.

SOCCER: Europa League last 16, FC Rostov v Manchester United followed by Olympiacos v Besiktas - BT Sport 2 1730 and 2015, Schalke v Borussia Monchengladbach - BT Sport/ESPN 2000, two matches TBC - eir Sport 1 1730 and 2000.

RUGBY LEAGUE: Super League, Warrington Wolves v Wigan Warriors - Sky Sports 1 1900.

TENNIS: ATP, BNP Paribas Open - Sky Sports 5 1900; WTA, Indian Wells - BT Sport 1 2100.

GOLF: European Tour, Indian Open - Sky Sports 4 0600, 0900 and 0530 (Fri); PGA Tour, Valspar Championship - Sky Sports 4 1900.

SNOOKER: Players Championship - ITV4 1245 and 1845.

DARTS: Premier League Darts - Sky Sports 3 1900.

CYCLING: Tirreno-Adriatico - Eurosport 2 1300; Paris-Nice - Eurosport 1 1430.

BASKETBALL: NBA, Oklahoma City Thunder v San Antonio Spurs - BT Sport 2 0100 (Fri).

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EVERY weekend on www.irishnews.com/sport

Test your sporting knowledge with the Toals Bookmakers Sports Quiz on www.irishnews.com/sport

Take the quiz and share your results with friends on social media to find out who the real sporting buff is...

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Quick Quiz Blitz answers: 1. Northampton; 2. The Hurricanes; 3. Sebastian Vettel and

Kimi Raikkonen; 4. Elaine Thompson; 5. Mary Kelly 6. 5