A round-up of this week's other sports news in brief ...
UCI confident court action will fail
CYCLING:The UCI has stated its confidence that a court application to ban the Wada whereabouts rule will be dismissed, writes Shane Stokes. The measure, taken recently by a group of 65 Belgian athletes, cyclists, soccer and volleyball players against the Flemish regional government, seeks to use EU privacy laws to throw out the provision.
Under the Wada code introduced on January 1st, all sportsmen and women on the drug-testing register must commit to be in a declared location for one hour a day. This must be lodged up to three months in advance and enables testers to arrive unannounced.
Three missed tests count as a doping violation.
“We are confident that the whereabouts information system will stand the legal test,” UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani told The Irish Times this week.
Ponting admits Australia were outplayed
CRICKET:Australia captain Ricky Ponting admitted his side had been outplayed by South Africa this summer as the Proteas completed a memorable tour with a 39-run win in the fifth one-day international in Perth yesterday.
The victory, set up by opener Hashim Amla’s patient knock of 97, not only ensured the tourists won the series 4-1 but also means they displace Australia at the top of the International Cricket Council’s ODI rankings.
Australia can claim that place back when they play New Zealand at the Waca Ground tomorrow.
South Africa also claimed a first Test series win on Australian soil earlier in the tour and it was perhaps fitting that yesterday’s win rounded off a tour that began in Perth when they chased down 414 to win the opening Test.
“I guess it’s a disappointing way for us to end this series,” Ponting said. “The South Africans have totally outplayed us right the way through.”
The Proteas posted an imposing 288 for six on the back of Amla’s contribution, while AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, arguably the two touring batsmen to enhance their reputations the most in Australia, chipped in with scores of 60.
The Australian chase was immediately undermined when they lost in-form duo Shaun Marsh (five) and Ponting (12) to debutant Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
The left-armer eventually finished with impressive figures of four for 50.
Force India set for testing
MOTOR SPORT:Force India plan to give their 2009 Formula One car its track debut in early March after working flat-out to integrate the new Mercedes engine and McLaren gearbox.
“It’s obviously very tight, because of what we’ve had to do. But the plan is to hit the last two official team tests before the season,” technical director James Key said yesterday.
The season starts in Australia on March 29th, with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and Germany’s Adrian Sutil driving for the team again.
Testing is banned once the season starts.
Force India used Ferrari engines last season, without scoring a point, and did a deal with McLaren and Mercedes in November for an engine and gearbox package for the VJM02 car as well as the new Kers energy recovery system.
“Some areas of the car matched very well with the new packaging requirements we had, while in other areas it was significantly different,” said Key.
Work on stadium roof starts
OLYMPIC GAMES:The roof of the main 2012 Olympic stadium began going up this week, a symbolic stage in Britain's preparations for the Games, but doubts remain over a long-term tenant.The roof should be finished in nine months, and the entire stadium by the summer of 2011.
However, concern remains about its legacy after leading football clubs ruled out moving in because of its size and the retention of the athletics track around the pitch.
The stadium’s 80,000-seating capacity will be reduced to 25,000 after the Games, too few for a Premier League football club, and fans do not like being so far from the field of play.Talks have taken place with rugby clubs while lower league football clubs could also be interested in using the stadium.
Jones to run in Glasgow meet
ATHLETICS:An athlete with plenty to prove after the Beijing Olympics will be one of the star attractions in tonight's indoor meeting in Glasgow. American Lolo Jones (26), was on course for gold in the 100 metres hurdles only to crash into the penultimate barrier and stumble across the line in seventh place.
She is determined to put matters right this season.
“It has definitely given me a lot of motivation,” admitted the world indoor champion.
Robson makes junior final
TENNIS:Laura Robson is hoping to emulate her hero Roger Federer when she takes to the Rod Laver Arena for the Australian Open girls' singles final today – in all but one respect. The 15-year-old from Wimbledon has never played on the main stadium court in Melbourne, but watched 13-time grand slam champion Federer beat Andy Roddick in the semi-finals.
One difference for the teenager will be the chance to use Hawk Eye to challenge line calls – something of which Federer is famously not a fan. However, Robson, who will face Ksenia Pervak in the final, described the system as “fun”.
“I’d never seen Federer play live before, so that was really good. It’s quite a big stadium. I’m used to playing in smaller courts without seats on the sides, just fences.”
Robson had to dig deep to reach her second final. She was 3-0 down in the opening set before coming back to beat top seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 6-4 6-3.
