Sports Digest

The other sports news stories of the week...

MOTOR RACING:Former Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan believes Michael Schumacher will replace Jenson Button at the newly-named Mercedes team for next season.

World champion Button joined Lewis Hamilton at McLaren earlier this week after the Brawn team was renamed Mercedes. Speculation has mounted that seven-time champion Schumacher, who could not replace the injured Felipe Massa on a short-term deal at Ferrari last season because of a back injury, could be drafted into the team run by former Benetton and Ferrari colleague Ross Brawn.

Jordan said: “I believe the Brawn team will have Michael Schumacher in it next year.

“And my reasons for believing that is that at Abu Dhabi, the grand prix, the last race Dr (Dieter) Zetsche – (chairman of the Daimler board) – Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher were deep in conversation and I believe it was to do with possibly joining the team as driver for the 2010 championship.”

SOCCER:Twelve matches in the Europa League and three in the Champions League are among "around 200" games being looked at by UEFA as part of an investigation into alleged match-fixing, described by one official as the biggest to ever affect European football.

European football’s governing body confirmed the majority of the games under investigation are domestic league matches in nine countries.

German authorities confirmed 32 matches in Germany were under suspicion, including four in the second division, with the remainder in lower leagues.

Matches in Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia and Austria are also believed to be under investigation.

CRICKET:Opener Gautam Gambhir stroked his third century in as many matches and Sachin Tendulkar recorded his 43rd Test hundred to guide India to a draw in the first Test against Sri Lanka yesterday.

Left-hander Gambhir hit 114 and Tendulkar, who became the first player to reach 30,000 international runs, made 100 not out to take the home team to 412 for four on the final day.

Tendulkar, who holds the record for most runs and centuries in Test and one-day cricket, shared a 66-run fourth wicket stand with Gambhir and an undefeated 137 for the next with Vangipurappu Laxman (51 not out) as India avoided a first home test defeat by Sri Lanka.

The hosts wiped out a 334-run first innings deficit and were 78 ahead when play ended as soon as Tendulkar reached his century.

SWIMMING:Conor Leaney, who won the 400 metres freestyle gold on Thursday, put himself in line to take the men's blue riband event, the 100 metres freestyle, after setting the fastest time in the semi-finals on day two of the National Short Course Championships at the NAC in Abbotstown, writes John Kenny.

Leaney, part of the men’s squad for next month’s European Short Course Championships, swam 49.41 seconds and is the fastest qualifier into today’s final.

The event will also feature 20-year-old Eoin Nolan of Aer Lingus. Nolan, coached by former deaf Irish international Alan Turner, set a new deaf world record of 51.43 in qualifying third for today’s final.

Aisling Cooney was the fastest qualifier in the women’s 100 free in an impressive 56.06.

Stephen McQuillan of Ards produced a dominant swim to win the 50 metres butterfly in 25.13.

Victory in the women’s race went to 15-year-old Shauna O’Brien of Waterford. Her time of 28.08 is a new Irish junior record.

The only Irish senior record to fall last night came in the women’s 200 metres breaststroke, when Sycerika McMahon (14), of Leander broke the three-year-old time in 2:31.87.

ATHLETICS:Kenya's new Olympic 1,500 metres champion Asbel Kipruto Kiprop says his pleasure and pride at being awarded the gold medal retrospectively has been tainted by the circumstances of his victory. The IOC has stripped Bahrain's Moroccan-born runner Rashid Ramzi of the gold for doping at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Kiprop, 20, who was upgraded from silver to gold, said yesterday: “I don’t feel happy in the way I should have felt. We cannot go back to Beijing again and recite the national anthem.”

BOXING:Conor Kelleher got the better of Stephen Sexton in an all-Limerick battle as the National Intermediate Championships got under way at the National Stadium in Dublin last night.

Kelleher, who boxes out of the St Francis club, advanced after the 67kg preliminary bout was stopped in round on.

Meanwhile, Jamie Kennedy, Patrick Walsh and Paul Hyland also won. Hyland stopped Ian Donovan in the first round.

Daniel Foster and JP Delaney also had their hands raised in victory.

AIBA World Youth champion Ray Moylette will be in action today versus Gearóid Mac A Baird.

Recently crowned Under-21 champion Patrick Gallagher will also be between the ropes for a three, three-minute round duel with Paul Baker.

The championships resume at 2pm today, followed by another preliminary session at 7pm.