A round-up of today's other stories in broef
Pakistan skittle England to claim first Test early
CRICKET:Pakistan took full advantage of another brittle England batting performance to crush the world's top-ranked Test team by 10 wickets and win the first Test inside three days in Dubai yesterday.
Having conceded a 146-run first-innings lead, England collapsed to 160 all out second time round, failing to recover after Umar Gul had wrecked their top order with a three-wicket burst. Pakistani opener Mohammad Hafeez alone scored the 15 runs his team needed to complete the formality of victory.
England were shot out for 192 in their first innings and in the second, Jonathan Trott (49) was the lone top-five batsman to reach double figures. Gul took four for 63 while off spinner Ajmal claimed three wickets to complete his second 10-wicket Test haul and earned himself the man-of-the-match award.
Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman also chipped in with three second innings wickets.
Petersen appeals rematch decision
BOXING:Lamont Peterson has lodged an appeal against the WBA's decision to order a rematch against Amir Khan after the American took Khan's light-welterweight title in controversial circumstances in December. But the 27-year-old American, who will keep the IBF version of the title after Khan withdrew an appeal over the result, is contesting the judgment: "We are confident the WBA will overturn its decision," Petersons camp said.
Triple jump ace Evora will miss London
ATHLETICS: Olympic triple jump champion Nelson Evora will miss the London Games after injuring his right leg, the Portuguese athlete said yesterday.
“Given the necessary recovery time, it is out of the question to take part in the next Olympic Games but don’t anyone think this injury means that I’m finished,” the 27-year-old said in a statement on his Benfica clubs website. “I have a lot of competitions ahead of me.”
Evora won gold in Beijing in 2008 after taking the world title at the 2007 Osaka championships in Japan.
He finished second in Berlin two years later and was fifth in Daegu, South Korea, last September. He suffered the injury while warming up for a trial in Lisbons Jamor stadium on Wednesday.
RUSSIA’S former Olympic high jump champion Yelena Slesarenko will miss this year’s Games after the 2004 Athens winner found out she is pregnant. “It was such great news for me, really unexpected.”
Interpol warning on Games ‘fixes’
OLYMPIC GAMES: The London Games are at risk from athletes cheating at the behest of illegal betting syndicates trying to fix results or parts of competitions, the head of Interpol said yesterday.
Ronald Noble, general secretary of the French-based international police agency, said the prevalence of sports events being fixed suggested the Olympic Games would also be targeted by gambling rings.
“I’ve got to believe since it’s occurring so much in football and other sports we have reason to believe there is a risk of it occurring in the Olympics,” Noble said.
The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said he and the Olympics should be concerned about irregular or illegal betting occurring in the context of the Olympics.
Noble’s warning echoes that of British Olympics minister Hugh Robertson who said earlier this month the integrity of the Games could be shattered by the “enormous” threat from those trying to fix results.
Trump takes fizz out of Rocket Ronnie
SNOOKER: Judd Trump saw off crowd favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach the semi-finals of The Masters at Alexandra Palace yesterday.
The UK champion raced into a 4-0 interval lead. Although O’Sullivan looked better after the resumption – hitting a tournament-best break of 141 – Trump always had plenty in reserve.
The match got off to a scrappy start with neither player able to find their rhythm, but the frame eventually went the way of Trump.
O’Sullivan finally got off the mark with a 67 in the first frame after the break, but Trump responded in the next, three modest breaks putting him in charge. He also took the next frame before O’Sullivan delayed Trump’s celebrations when he reeled off break of 141 .
The 36-year-old made a break of 54 in the next frame, but Trump was left with just enough points on the table to clear up and book his place in the semis.
Coyle makes great start in Leipzig
EQUESTRIAN: Ireland's Trevor Coyle made an immediate impact at the World Cup show in Leipzig when winning yesterday evening's Welcome Stakes on Alexander Lebon's Jubilee d'Ouilly, reports Margie McLoone.
The Derry rider was drawn seventh of the 59 starters in the 1.45m speed competition and set an unbeatable time of 54.04. The other Irish competitors at the five-star German show are Denis Lynch and Billy Twomey while Jessica Kuerten and Shane Breen are in action in Amsterdam.
Across the Atlantic, most of the Irish riders competing in Wellington, south Florida, are based in America but they have been joined by Cian O’Connor, whose horses have proven to be in good form.
Elsewhere, Kilkenny’s Marion Hughes continues her tour of the UAE, competing in Ghantoot alongside Michael Hutchinson.
Anti-dope cheats laboratory unveiled
OLYMPIC GAMES: An army of white-coated scientists equipped with the latest technology will make it harder than ever for dope cheats to avoid detection at the London Olympics, organisers warned yesterday.
Unveiling its Wada-accredited laboratory in Harlow, half an hour north of the Olympic Park in east London, organising committee LOCOG outlined its anti-doping operations.
One in two competitors will be tested during the Games, including all medal winners, with 150 boffins working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to process more than 6,250 bar-coded bottles of urine and blood from various venues.
That equates to 400 tests each day, a higher number than any previous Olympic Games.
