Sports digest

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Main players launch Indian Wells title bids in style

TENNIS: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick each launched their title bids in triumphant style at the Indian Wells ATP tournament without losing a set in the second round.

Second seed Federer beat Russia’s Igor Andreev 7-5 7-6, third-seeded Serb Djokovic crushed Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev 6-0 6-4 and eighth seed Roddick overpowered fellow American James Blake 6-3 7-5 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Federer, a three-times champion here, wrapped up his match by clinching the second set tiebreak 7-4 when his opponent, on the stretch with his forehand, was unable to return a probing first serve. “I played really well,” 16-times grand slam champion Federer said courtside. “In the first round, you never have too much expectation and you just hope to get through.Australian Open champion Djokovic extended his perfect record this season to 13-0 after storming through the opening set in just 21 minutes and then holding off Golubev in the second.

Vettel signs contract extension

FORMULA ONE:On the day Lewis Hamilton announced signing with Simon Fuller's new company, XIX Entertainment, to oversee his management affairs, Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has described Vettel's attitude in signing a three-year contract extension as "refreshing."

Vettel, who previously only had an option for next year after this season, will remain with Red Bull through to the end of 2014, with the deal ending recent speculation that had linked the 23-year-old German to Ferrari and Mercedes.

WOMEN'S HOCKEY:Ireland lost 2-1 to Britain in a training match at Bisham Abbey yesterday in the squad's build-up to this summer's European Championships. Lisa Jacob gave Ireland the lead after just five minutes, but two shorts corners, the first just before the break and the second three minutes from time, gave the hosts victory.

Bin Hammam may oppose Blatter

SOCCER: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chief Mohamed Bin Hammam will "clarify his position" on Friday regarding the Fifa presidential elections to end weeks of mounting speculation he will stand against Sepp Blatter.

The 61-year-old Qatari will finally address the issue at the AFC’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur at the end of the week, the AFC said yesterday.

Bin Hammam has dropped several hints over the past three months that he might challenge Swiss incumbent Blatter for soccer’s top job at the Fifa Congress in Zurich on May 31st and June 1st.

The deadline for declaring an intention to run is March 31st.

Last week Bin Hammam, who was sworn in unopposed for a third and final term as the head of Asian soccer in January, said he was happy with the support from five of Fifa’s six confederations but was unsure about European support.

Kelly ruled out for four weeks

GAELIC GAMES:Tipperary captain Eoin Kelly will still travel to meet US President Barack Obama on St Patrick's Day – despite sustaining an horrific compound fracture to one of his fingers last Sunday. The damage is to Kelly's left hand and will rule the Mullinahone clubman out of action for the next four weeks. Six-time All-Star Kelly will miss the next two league matches against Cork and Galway – but could return for the final group fixture at home to Wexford on April 17th. Kelly went off in the fifth minute of last Sunday's comfortable victory against Offaly in Nenagh with blood pumping from the top of one of the middle fingers on his left hand. It has emerged that Kelly lost the finger-nail after he was accidentally trod upon while the plate below the nail was also cracked.

O'Brien Manager of the Month

MANAGER OF THE MONTH:Noel O'Brien, manager of St Brigid's (Roscommon) Gaelic football team, has been named the Philips Sports Manager of the Month for February.

St Brigid’s became the first Roscommon team to reach an All-Ireland club final since Clann na Gael in 1990 when they beat Nemo Rangers in the semi-final, 0-13 to 1-8, to earn a place in the St Patrick’s Day final at Croke Park against Crossmaglen Rangers of Armagh.

London games tickets go on sale

OLYMPICS: London 2012 chairman Lord Coe is confident of sell-outs and that organisers are in "good shape" to handle demand as tickets for the 2012 Olympics go on sale today.

With 500 days to go to the start of the Games, Lord Coe is convinced the technology is in place to avoid a computer meltdown. He is advising sports fans there is no point in a first-day rush to get the 6.6 million tickets.

Describing it as “a marathon and not a sprint”, he said: “I think that we have done everything that we can given the scale and the complexity. This is the third (biggest) online retail in the world (behind eBay and Amazon).

“I am not naive about the scale of the operation here.” London 2012 are urging sports fans to apply at any time during the six-week application period up to April 26th at 11.59pm. It is not a first-come first-served system and there will be no greater chance of getting a ticket if you apply on the first day than later.

See www.London2012.com