O'Sullivan hits form

Sports Digest: Ronnie O'Sullivan was back to his ruthless best at the Masters at Wembley Arena yesterday, although he refused to speak to the media following his 6-1 victory over Ali Carter.

Despite a lack of match practice and still nursing a cold from the Christmas period, O'Sullivan pocketed two cool century breaks and four further half-century breaks in a convincing win.

Breaks of 91, 73 and 106 saw him establish a 3-1 lead at the interval, with Carter pinching the last before the break with a 68 run.

But O'Sullivan added additional breaks of 64, 117 and 92 to win in under half an hour following the resumption.

Pakistan to test players

DRUG TESTS: Pakistan will conduct drug tests on all 30 players in contention for the cricket World Cup selection. The move comes after two fast bowlers, Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar, were initially banned after testing positive for nandrolone, only to win their cases on appeal.

Reports in the Dawn newspaper claim the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) medical panel have been instructed to obtain relevant kits from the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Malaysia.

The PCB have to submit their final 15-man squad for the World Cup by February 13th, but the tests would only be possible after the team returns from its tour of South Africa.

Gibbs to appeal ban

CRICKET: South African Herschelle Gibbs has lodged an appeal against his two-match ban for making racist remarks about Pakistan fans during the first Test in Centurion.

"We lodged the formal notice and grounds of appeal with the ICC this afternoon," South African Cricketers Association chief executive, Tony Irish, said.

"It is not appropriate for us to deal publicly at this stage with the merits of the appeal before the ICC. However, I can confirm that we are now awaiting the written statement from the match referee and the appointment of an appeals commissioner as provided for in the ICC Code of Conduct."

Gibbs is now available for the second Test beginning in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

Peterhansel builds lead

DAKAR RALLY: Qatari driver Nasser Al Attiyah won yesterday's 10th stage of the Dakar Rally as overall leader Stephane Peterhansel kept clear of trouble to finish fourth.

Al Attiyah, in a BMX, was 28 seconds faster than Japan's Hiroshi Masuoka (Mitsubishi) over the 400-km loop around Nema in Mauritania. American Mark Miller (Volkswagen) finished third a further 1:21 behind.

Overall Peterhansel gained two minutes on his Mitsubishi team-mate and last year's champion Luc Alphand.

In the bike section, Portuguese Helder Rodriguez, on a Yamaha, became the second amateur to clinch a stage victory in as many days.

Barrington rides wave

SAILING: At the Key West Week regatta in Florida yesterday, Colm Barrington's Ker-designed Magic Glove has started living up to its billing as IRC-division favourite, writes David Branigan.

The 50-footer has won three of the four races in Division Two and stands just one point behind overall leader Doug DeVos on Windquest, one of four Transpac 52-footers in this class.

In yesterday's race four, Barrington was called 'On-course-side' for premature starting and was obliged to return and restart after the fleet sailed away yet was still able to claim first overall.

And Ger O'Rourke's Cookson 50 from the Western Yacht Club in Limerick lies fifth overall in the same class.