A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Indian 400m pair fail dope tests
ATHLETICS:Leading Indian 400 metres pair Mandeep Kaur and Juana Murmu have failed doping tests, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) said yesterday.
The urine samples of the two women, collected at a training camp last month, tested positive for banned anabolic steroids.
“We received the analysis of the B sample today.
“Both samples tested positive and the reports have been submitted to the AFI hearing panel,” director ML Dogra said.
“The samples were collected on May 25th as part of out-of- competition testing.”
Kaur, who won the 400 relay gold in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, tested positive for anabolic steroids methandienone and stanozolol, while Murmu tested positive for methandienone.
Both athletes, who were part of the Indian contingent for next month’s Asian Championship, have been provisionally suspended.
Harper ends Test career early after India complaints
CRICKET:Australian umpire Daryl Harper has withdrawn from what would have been his final Test after complaints from India's players about his decision-making.
Harper, an international umpire since 1994, was supposed to take charge of his final Test next week when West Indies host India in their third and final match in Dominica.
But Harper (59) told the International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday he was pulling out.
“In the wake of some unfair criticism, Daryl has informed us that he does not wish to stand in what would have been his final Test,” the ICC said in a statement.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni made no secret of his displeasure at some of Harper’s rulings in the series opener.
Although the ICC has regulations protecting officials from public criticism, Dhoni’s comments went unpunished.
“The real shame is it deprives him of the opportunity to sign off as a Test match umpire in a manner befitting,” the statement added.
Nevin guaranteed bronze in Hungary
BOXING:John Nevin guaranteed Ireland at least one bronze medal at the 34-nation European Junior Championships in Hungary with a countback win over Christian Doychev yesterday, reports Bernard O'Neill.
The Cavan BC flyweight claimed a 33-25 verdict on accepted scores following a 5-5 tie with the Bulgarian in Keszthely.
But while Nevin was celebrating, Belfast featherweight Caoimhim Hynes bowed out after losing 11-7 to Arsen Ablayev of the Ukraine in the 57kg quarter-final.
Nevin, a cousin of Irish Elite champ and 2009 World Senior bronze medallist John Joe Nevin, will now meet England’s Pat McCormack in tomorrow’s 50kg semi-final.
Meanwhile, Martin Conroy, Luke Thomas, Shane McIntyre, Patrick Gaffey and Aaron Kelly will be involved in quarter-final bouts today.
Team cuts ties with Vansevenant
CYCLING:Omega Pharma-Lotto have cut ties with former rider Wim Vansevenant ahead of the Tour de France after a package allegedly addressed to him and containing banned substances was seized at Brussels airport. Vansevenant, who quit professional cycling in 2008, had been due to accompany the team's VIP guests during the Tour.
Belgium’s Het Nieuwsblad and De Standaard newspapers reported yesterday that the package sent from Australia had been seized by airport customs officers. The former rider was not available for comment.
“After what happened it is obvious that he will not be driving a bus on the Tour de France,” the Belgian team’s general manager Geert Coeman said yesterday.
“This has nothing to do with the team, it’s a personal problem,” Omega Pharma-Lotto sports director Marc Sergeant said.
Former champion fails to make team
SWIMMING:Three-time Olympic champion Libby Trickett failed to clinch a place in Australia's world championship relay team on her competitive return from retirement in Adelaide yesterday.
The 26-year-old ended her short retirement last September but was unable to compete at the main Australian trials in April because she needed to be registered for dope testing for nine months.
Given an extra chance in the race-off for a place on the 100m freestyle relay, Trickett swam 55.68 seconds in her first race in nearly two years. That was only good enough for sixth place behind 50m butterfly world champion Marieke Guehrer, who clinched the spot at the July 19th-31st World Championships in Shanghai in 54.29.
Trickett won one Olympic gold at Athens in 2004 and two at Beijing as well as eight world championship titles.
Gower out of World Cup
RUGBY:Italy outhalf Craig Gower has ruled himself out of the World Cup in New Zealand in September and October after failing to recover sufficiently from a knee ligament operation late last year.
“It has not been an easy decision,” the former Australian rugby league international, who has made a decent impact in his two years with Italy, said.
Italy called up Australian-born Kristopher Burton as a replacement.
Queen's justify Henley seeding
ROWING:Queen's University justified their seeding with a win on the first day of Henley Royal regatta yesterday, but both Trinity crews lost. Trinity's men's eight faced a much bigger crew in ASR Nereus of Amsterdam in the Temple Cup, reports Liam Gorman.
The Dutch are a selected (seeded) crew and justified it with a pillar-to-post win.
In the last race of the day the Dublin University coxed four fell to University of Bristol by two lengths in the Prince Albert Cup.
Queen’s had little difficulty in overcoming the University of Bristol eight in their Temple Cup opener. The Queen’s men face a tough draw today in the shape of Okeanos of the Netherlands – and if they make it through they are likely to face ASR Nereus tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Ireland team for the World Cup Regatta in Lucerne next month has been named. The under-23 crew of Claire Lambe and Sarah Dolan will represent Ireland in the premier lightweight boat.
