Today's other stories in brief
Mayweather Jr calls on 'gun-shot' Hatton to retire
BOXING:Floyd Mayweather yesterday urged "gun-shot" Ricky Hatton to retire and absolved his controversial trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr of any blame for the defeat by Manny Pacquiao.
Hatton was taken to hospital following his brutal two-round demolition by Pacquiao three weeks ago and is considering his future. It was Mayweather who inflicted Hatton’s first career loss in 2007 with the American then entering a spell of retirement that will end when he meets Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas on July 18th.
Mayweather claimed Hatton had already taken too much punishment and also criticised his lifestyle in between fights.
“Ricky’s career was over in 2007 when he met me,” said Mayweather. “He was a gutsy, tough champ but there’s a time in every boxer’s career when they must hang it up.
“I don’t want everyone over here ripping my father to shreds. It wasn’t his fault. My dad told him to go out, relax, use his jab and be smart. It wasn’t my dad’s fault.”
Ivanovic fit for Paris defence
TENNIS:Ana Ivanovic is optimistic about defending her French Open title, saying a niggling knee injury had died down. The tournament starts on Sunday
“Thankfully the pain and inflammation in my knee has gone away so I have been able to practise this week,” the Serbian said. “My timing is pretty good at the moment and I’m optimistic.”
The world number eight has suffered a sharp loss of form since last year and pulled out of the Madrid Open earlier this month.
O'Connor wins Madrid Grand Prix
EQUESTRIAN:Cian O'Connor, who has been dropped from the squad for the second leg of the Medyan Nations' Cup league in Rome next week, won the Grand Prix qualifier in Madrid yesterday, reports Margie Mcloone.
Riding Stephen O’Connor and Castlemartin Stud’s chestnut gelding Complete in the last competition of the day, O’Connor beat Olympic gold medallist Eric Lamaze and his Beijing mount Hickstead by almost one and a half seconds, denying the Canadian a hat-trick of wins at the five-star Spanish show.
Earlier, Billy Twomey finished fourth with the stallion Goldex in the two-phase competition, while Cameron Hanley took third place in the opening 1.40m speed class, the in-form Lamaze winning on Under contract and Lord du Janlie respectively.
Sharapova's comeback run halted
TENNIS: Former world number one Maria Sharapova was beaten 6-2 6-2 by Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko in the quarter-finals of the Warsaw Open yesterday.
Sharapova was making her comeback at the tournament after a shoulder injury had prevented her playing singles since August of last year.
Russian Sharapova was pleased with her progress in Warsaw and told a news conference she would play in the French Open, which starts on Sunday.
“This was a best preparation I could have,” the 22-year-old said. “I gave myself a chance to play in a tournament here and now I will go out and play again next week.
“I have no expectations for the French Open, this is not a time in my career to have expectations,” she added.
Eighth seed Bondarenko was in control throughout the match, breaking Sharapova’s second serve early in the first set.
Team Delta Lloyd take Volvo lead
SAILING:Ideal sailing conditions graced the Volvo Ocean Race fleet in the North Atlantic yesterday as the seven boats passed the halfway stage of the 2,550-mile leg, reports David Branigan.
Although taking five days to complete what was predicted to be an eight-day passage, the boats have finally cleared the ice-exclusion zone south-east of Newfoundland and are enjoying fast-downwind conditions.
Boatspeeds are close to 30 knots and the winner of the last race now sailing as Team Delta Lloyd took the official lead last night.
However, places one to five are separated by just seven miles, while furthest east, Green Dragon was holding a 10-mile advantage over Ericsson 3, which is suffering from the aftermath of a collision with a whale earlier this week.
Nordic’s efforts to overcome a broken keel-fairing and sail past the Irish boat could see this duel lasting all the way to the Aran Islands.
Akhtar to miss World Twenty20
CRICKET: Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been ruled out of the World Twenty20 due to a skin infection in his groin, a Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman said yesterday.
“The medical panel of the board has examined Shoaib and he has been advised 10-12 days rest for a skin infection,” the spokesman said.
“The medical panel will re-examine him in the first week of June. In the meantime the team management has requested a replacement,” he said.
Fast bowler Rao Iftikhar is likely to replace Shoaib who did not attend a week-long conditioning camp held in Bhurban, a hill resort near Islamabad, last week.
“Shoaib is not fit so it was useless waiting for him to recover just before the tournament,” Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam told reporters in Lahore.
“He has not trained or bowled for the last two weeks so it would have been risky taking him to the World Cup and I think Rao Iftikhar is a suitable replacement,” he added.
