Sports Digest: Ken Doherty pulled off a trademark great escape to book his place in the second round of the China snooker Open in Beijing yesterday. Doherty recovered from 4-2 adrift to edge Australian Neil Robertson 5-4 as he completed the latest in a long line of comebacks this season.
The most notable of these was when he beat John Higgins 9-8 from 8-5 down in the Malta Cup final last month.
"I only seem to come alive when I'm behind," said Doherty, who came to Beijing fourth in the provisional rankings.
"Twelve months ago I'd probably have lost 5-2 but what I've done this season has given me a lot of self-belief and other players are wary that I can come back when I go behind."
Stephen Hendry, the runner-up last year, breezed through to the last 16 at the expense of Barry Hawkins, who had beaten the Scot at the same stage of the Welsh Open earlier this month.
Hendry, who 16 years ago won the first ranking event staged in China, won 5-1.
Stephen Lee, who won the Welsh Open for his first title in four years, defeated David Gray 5-2
Sprinters' final hearing
Two Greek sprinters facing a two-year ban for doping violations will have their final hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in June, their lawyer said yesterday.
Lawyer Gregory Ioannidis said Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were ready to race even before the hearing takes place between June 26th and 30th. "So far the International Association of Athletics Federations has miserably failed to prove either of the charges . . . I have said I feel confident and optimistic," Ioannidis said. "My clients are ready to race now."
BMW and McLaren modify car wings
BMW and McLaren have modified wings on their Formula One cars after a Malaysian Grand Prix controversy blew up around Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. The two teams were among eight who wrote to stewards at Sepang on Sunday expressing concern about Ferrari's wings.
"No official message has been communicated by the FIA (International Automobile Federation) to our team," said a BMW Sauber spokesman. "The technical delegate of the FIA verbally informed us we were supposed to change a certain detail of the rear wing before Melbourne (on April 2nd). This is not unusual and this minor change has already been performed," he added.
"Jacques Villeneuve's car was checked after the race in Malaysia and found to conform to the rules."
McLaren said a "minor issue with an attachment to a secondary wing came to our attention in Malaysia. This will be rectified for the Australian Grand Prix".
An FIA spokesman, asked about Ferrari's aerodynamics, said on Monday there were concerns regarding several teams but they would be rectified before the next race.
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