Sports Digest/ TENNIS: Argentina easily took a 2-0 lead over Britain in their Davis Cup world group tie in Buenos Aires yesterday, with straight-sets wins for Agustin Calleri and David Nalbandian.
World number 41 Calleri beat Alex Bogdanovic 6-3 6-1 6-1 after Nalbandian, ninth in the world, had coasted to a 6-1 6-3 6-3 victory over Davis Cup debutant Jamie Baker in the opening singles rubber at a half-full Parque Roca stadium.
By the third set of the second match light rain was falling and Bogdanovic seemed in a rush to end the humiliation as Britain struggled without their injured world number 11, Andy Murray.
Nalbandian raced to a 5-0 lead in 16 minutes against a timid Baker, ranked 235 in the world, and, after a slight loss of concentration, concluded the first set in 25 minutes.
Foxall on final leg
SAILING: In their final weekend at sea, Damian Foxall and Jean-Pierre Dick on Paprec-Virbac re-entered the Mediterranean last night and have less than 500 miles to the finishing-line of the Barcelona World Race, writes David Branigan.
The Franco-Irish pair are battling gale force headwinds that have dogged their progress after 25,000 miles of ocean racing and steep waves.
Second-placed Hugo Boss, sailed by Alex Thompson and Andrew Cape, closed to 300 miles of the leader in the past three days but have hit the same headwinds.
Although Paprec-Virbac's lead is comfortable, the heavy seas are causing serious stressing on their boat, and rig and equipment failure remains a worry.
The leader is expected to finish on Monday afternoon.
Indoors on trial
ATHLETICS: Dwain Chambers's appearance in this weekend's British World Indoor trials will overshadow performances of his more fancied colleagues for medals at next month's championships.
UK Athletics are dreading the embarrassment of the 29-year-old former drug cheat winning the 60 metres title in Sheffield tomorrow. A victory would automatically guarantee him a place in the British team for the championships in Valencia beginning on March 7th.
UKA chief executive Niels de Vos has made it abundantly clear he does not want to see Chambers, who served a two-year ban after failing a drug test for THG, wearing a British vest in Spain. De Vos has been stunned that his attempts to exclude Chambers from the trials were thwarted by the threat of legal action.
Rasmussen faces ban
CYCLING: The Dane Michael Rasmussen, expelled from last year's Tour de France, faces a two-year ban after the International Cycling Union (UCI) called for disciplinary proceedings to be brought against him.
Rasmussen was sacked by his Rabobank team four days from the end of the Tour while he was leading the race after it emerged he had lied about his whereabouts in training, which is an offence under doping regulations.
"Today the UCI has asked the Monaco Cycling Federation, with whom Michael Rasmussen held a racing licence, to open disciplinary proceedings under the UCI Anti-Doping Rules," the UCI said in a statement yesterday.
The union said that "after an extensive and careful investigation" it also believed the Danish rider broke rules relating to evading controls "in a premeditated manner".
