Sports Digest

A round-up of today's sports news

Bree targets London Games

SWIMMING:Andrew Bree says he is targeting London 2012 after his fine display in the 200 metres breaststroke in Beijing, when he just missed the final.

Bree had considered retirement after the Commonwealth Games in two years, but says that on the back of his performances in Beijing he is now determined to go to London.

The 27-year-old will shortly return to his training camp at the University of Tennessee.

"In Beijing I was just 0.19 away from becoming the first Irishman to make an Olympic swimming final - I took three seconds off my Irish record, and I know that I can go even faster," said Bree.

Boonen takes 16th stage in Spain in sprint finish

CYCLING:Belgian Tom Boonen sprinted to victory in the 16th stage of the Tour of Spain yesterday, his second stage win of the race.

The Quick-Step rider and former world champion scorched across the finishing line in Zamora half a bike length ahead of former race leader Filippo Pozzato of Italy in a bunch sprint finish. German Heinrich Haussler was third.

Spaniard Alberto Contador remained in the lead for a fourth successive stage.

With just five days left to race, the Astana rider's advantage of one minute 17 seconds over team-mate Levi Leipheimer of the US remains intact.

Ireland's Nicolas Roche remains 17th overall after finishing 28th yesterday.

McLaren happy with Kovalainen

MOTOR SPORT:McLaren have defended Heikki Kovalainen after the Finn lost to Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel in last weekend's Italian Grand Prix despite starting on the front row.

"Heikki has no reason to feel disappointed," said McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh in a team debrief. "The reality is that he didn't put a foot wrong all weekend and looked blindingly fast in dry, damp and full-wet conditions," he added.

"He struggled a little with visibility in the early stages of the race and had a few difficulties with his tyres and brake temperatures, but we are not disappointed with his result. Let's not forget that Heikki is fearsomely quick but is still very much developing his approach.

"We have a clearly defined programme for him in the weeks and months ahead and feel certain that he will only grow stronger.

Bryan out of Davis Cup

TENNIS:American Bob Bryan, one half of the world's top-ranked doubles pair, has pulled out of the Davis Cup semi-final against Spain starting on Friday after aggravating a shoulder injury. Bryan said he exacerbated the injury while winning the US Open doubles title with his twin brother Mike.

"I had to shut it down now. I can't even hit any balls," he said.

'Double standards' accusation

CRICKET:Authorities in Pakistan have accused their Australian counterparts of double standards after they confirmed that Australia's Test tour to India would go ahead despite a series of bomb blasts in New Delhi at the weekend.

A senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday that they expected the tour of India to go ahead because there was big money involved in the four-Test series, which starts at the end of this month.

"It just shows the double standards of the Australians. They couldn't accept our assurances they would be provided top security to play in Pakistan," PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said.

"But they have accepted Indian assurances and are willing to play in India which has also seen a series of bomb blasts in recent months at major cricket venues."

Dhaka Warriors for Indian league

CRICKET:Former skipper Habibul Bashar and 12 other leading Bangladesh players will form a new team called the Dhaka Warriors in the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) this year, organisers said yesterday.

The Twenty20 league is not recognised by the national governing bodies in the International Cricket Council and the players will be banned from Test cricket.

Bashar, his former deputy Shahriar Nafees, all-rounder Alok Kapali and wicketkeeper Diman Ghosh were presented at an ICL news conference.

Bashar told reporters all-rounders Farhad Reza and Aftab Ahmed had also signed.