Limond to defend his title against £1m former footballer Woodhouse

BOXING

Willie Limond, promising footballer himself early in his career, will defend his Commonwealth light-welterweight title against Curtis Woodhouse, who once commanded a £1m transfer fee when he moved from Sheffield United to Birmingham City, writes Jim Black.

Woodhouse seemed destined for the top during a career which spanned nine season and four England under-21 appearances before the midfielder “fell out of love with football”. The 34-yearold turned to boxing and realised his dream of winning the British crown in February. Now one-time winger Limond will face Woodhouse on the undercard of Ricky Burns’ World Boxing Council title eliminator at Braehead Arena, Renfrewshire on June 27. Woodhouse, who will almost certainly retire if he adds the Commonwealth crown to his British belt, added: “I have a lot of respect for Willie, who has been there, seen it and done it; this is a proper 50/50 fight.”

Limond, the 35-year-old Glaswegian, took the Commonwealth belt in January last year with a first round knockout win over Eddie Doyle and made a successful first defence five months later when he outpointed Mitch Prince. It will be his third attempt to land the Lonsdale Belt, having lost previously to Alex Arthur and Anthony Crolla.

CRICKET

Preston Mommsen has recovered from injury and will lead Scotland A in three one-day matches against Durham 2nd XI next week, writes William Dick. Mommsen will be joined by his former Carlton team-mate Hamish Gardiner while youngster Andrew Umeed keeps his place after his debut against MCC earlier in the week. There are also places for Durham Academy’s Gavin Main and Calum MacLeod who is currently on loan with the county.

Andy Tennant, performance director of Cricket Scotland, said: “These games are an important part of our preparations for the England game, and another opportunity for players to show us they are desperate to be playing in next year’s World Cup.”

Scotland A (v Durham 2nd XI, Racecourse Ground, Durham, April 28, 29 & 30) P Mommsen (capt), C Burnett, A Evans, H Gardiner, C Gosain, M Haq, M Iqbal, M Leask, G Main, C MacLeod, S Sharif, A Umeed, C Wallace, I Wardlaw

GOLF

A tidy, three-birdie opening round gave Alyson McKechin a solid platform upon which to build a weekend assault in the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open Strokeplay Championship at Troon Portland yesterday, writes Bruce Langholm.

The reigning Scottish champion from Elderslie had a three-under 72 to be just two shots behind the early leader, Annabel Dimmock from Surrey. McKechin, a runner-up in the event last season, punctuated her solid stream of pars with birdies at the sixth, 15th and 17th as her bid to become the first Scottish winner of the title since 2002 got off to a purposeful start. Dimmock, the Curtis Cup contender who has made a significant impact on the US college circuit, produced a telling thrust on her