SPORTS DIGEST

A roundup of today's other sports news in brief

Safina defeats Williams to reach final

TENNIS: World number one Dinara Safina came from behind to win an epic contest with Venus Williams 6-7 6-3 6-4 yesterday and set up an all-Russian final at the Italian Open.

Safina rallied from a set and 2-0 down to earn the right to face her compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, who barged past Belarussian Victoria Azarenka with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 win.

American fourth seed Williams won the first set in a tiebreak and took a 2-0 lead in the second before Safina stormed back by winning six of the next seven games to even things up.

The Russian twice let a break advantage slip in the third set before finally clinching an enthralling match that lasted over three hours.

Disappointing McGettigan run

ATHLETICS: Irish record holder and Olympic finalist, Roisin McGettigan, made a rather inauspicious start to the new outdoor athletics season when she trailed home two places from the end of the field in the women's 3,000m steeplechase at the Super Gran Prix meeting in Qatar yesterday.

The 28-year-old Wicklow runner had high hopes of putting up a big show against a good field of runners in Doha but was never a factor from the halfway point, eventually finishing ninth of the 11-runner field.

Her time of nine minutes 57.44 seconds was almost 30 seconds outside her Irish record of 8:28.29 and will feel disappointed with this performance as she builds up for the World Championships later in the season.

The race was won by Ruth Nyangau of Kenya in 9:32.68 from Zemzem Ahmed of Ethiopia.

McGettigan had gone into the race after a good indoor season, having finished 4th in the 1,500m at the Euro indoors in Turin. She has some good performances in the event, qualifying for the final of the World Championships in 2007 and the Olympics last year.

Remaining sports adopt Wada rules

DOPING: The five Olympic sports which had yet to fully comply with global anti-doping rules have now fallen into line.

Gymnastics, wrestling, volleyball, handball and modern pentathlon have adopted World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) regulations on drugs testing. It lifts any threat of the five sports being kicked out of the Olympics.

Wada director general David Howman said: "They have done what was expected. This removes the impediment that was in the way last year." The sports were cited in November for non-compliance, but Wada extended its deadline by six months to give them more time.

The agency is also expected to finalise an agreement with European countries on safeguarding data that athletes give about their medical treatments, doctors, coaches and other personal issues.

Failure of sails to arrive adds extra edge to in-port race in Boston

SAILING: A lack of dedicated sails for today's In-Port series of the Volvo Ocean Race in Boston could add a new element of chance to the prospects for the seven-boat fleet. A shared shipping container sent from the Rio de Janeiro stop-over has been delayed and attempts to air-freight the sails had proven unsuccessful by yesterday afternoon, reports David Branigan.

While the teams' specialised sails could still arrive in time, light and shifty winds plus a strong tide are expected for the two races today.

Local entry Puma Ocean Racing is hoping for a strong showing in home waters though skipper Ken Read denied there was any home advantage as the team had been based mainly in Newport, Rhode Island, before setting-off for Europe last summer.

The expected conditions should favour the two Spanish boats according to Telefonica Black skipper Fernando Eschavarri. The luck factor if the In-Port sails fail to arrive will also play to their advantage predicted overall race leader Torben Grael on Ericsson 4.

The seven boats depart on leg seven of the race next Saturday, next stop - Galway.

The earliest ETA for the first finisher is Saturday May 23rd.

Confusion over Armstrong team

CYCLING: Lance Armstrong's Astana will go off last in Saturday's opening time trial in the Giro d'Italia in Venice, organisers said yesterday as confusion reigned over the future of the Kazakh-funded team.

Some team members were not paid salaries last month and the International Cycling Union (UCI) has said their Pro-Tour licence could be withdrawn if the problem continues.

Armstrong, who gets money only from endorsement deals, had previously said he was interested in owning a team and Astana's struggles give him the perfect opportunity to take over along with general manager Johan Bruyneel.

Team Columbia will start first in the 100th edition of the Giro.

Keane lets seven go

SOCCER: Seven Ipswich Town players whose contracts expire in June have been told they will not be offered new deals. Ivan Campo, Tommy Miller, Billy Clarke, Dean Bowditch, Chris Casement, Jai Reason and Kurt Robinson have all been released by manager Roy Keane.

Keane is in talks with Alex Bruce, Shane Supple and Ed Upson about new deals.