Bekele smashes 10,000m world record in Brussels

Sports Digest

ATHLETICS: World and Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele smashed his world 10,000 metres record with a time of 26 minutes 17.53 seconds at the Brussels Golden League meeting last night.

Cheered on by a capacity crowd who were on their feet for most of the race, and running in rhythm to the pounding of drums, Bekele sprinted round the final lap to knock almost three seconds off his previous best mark, 26:20.31 set in Ostrava in the Czech Republic in June 2004.

France's Hassan El Lahssini was second in a European record of 26:39.77. Kenyan teenager Samuel Wanjiru was third in a world junior record of 26:51.87.

Bekele went for glory at the halfway stage in a remarkable show of solo running, after being taken through 5,000 metres five seconds inside record pace by his younger brother Tariku.

TENNIS: Former world number one Kim Clijsters said yesterday she plans to retire from professional tennis in 2007.

"I think I will stop at the end of 2007. My body is already giving me a lot of problems," the 22- year-old Belgian said. "Maybe I'll still play the (Antwerp) Diamond Games in 2008, as a goodbye tournament, but that will be it," she told Het Laatste Nieuws.

Clijsters is seeded fourth in the US Open, which starts next Monday.

TENNIS: Yvonne Doyle further enhanced her reputation as Ireland's best player in over a decade when qualifying last night for the final of the Danone Irish Masters Championship at Fitzwilliam, reports Pat Roche.

Doyle is sticking by her decision of earlier this year to retire from the professional circuit, but she continues to win at home and outgunned Emma Murphy 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-final.

She faces a more demanding exercise in the final against Lithuanian Galina Misiurova, who beat Ann Marie Hogan in the second semi-final.

ROWING: The board of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union has stripped an oarsman of the title he won at last month's National Championships, reports Liam Gorman.

Rob Michael of Commercial was found to be ineligible to compete in the novice single sculls, which he won, by virtue of having won twice at the Queen's University regatta in 2004.

It is understood an official complaint has also been made against another crew and this is being investigated.

Sanctions have also been taken against two clubs, Offaly and UCD, for not fielding crews after declarations were made, and officials from two clubs face reprimands for abuse of officials.