Today's other stories in brief
Gulbis proves Federer's master
TENNIS:Roger Federer made the worst possible start to his claycourt season with an error-strewn defeat against Ernests Gulbis, the nervy Latvian sealing a 2-6 6-1 7-5 win on his seventh match point in the Rome Masters.
The French Open champion looked to be on his way to a slick seasonal debut on the clay when he took the first set with ease in drizzly conditions, with Gulbis dogged by erratic play.
But the 40th-ranked Latvian cleaned up his act and took advantage as Federer uncharacteristically piled up the unforced errors to notch a run of five consecutive games and win the second.
Federer then saved two match points on his serve in the ninth game of the final set, having been broken in the fifth, before Gulbis wasted four more in the following game.
But the Swiss dropped serve immediately and Gulbis held his to love to claim a memorable victory.
Sports bodies seek a new deal
OLYMPIC GAMES: The 28 Summer Olympic sports federations, feeling the squeeze from the global economic downturn, decided yesterday to review the way broadcast revenue from the Games are distributed.
Federations taking part in London 2012 will share around €285 million from the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) TV deals.
Athletics will get the biggest share with €26.5 million. Soccer, swimming, basketball, cycling, gymnastics, tennis and volleyball, ranked in group two, can expect about €14 million each.
Sports chiefs voted to alter the system after the London Olympics to make it more representative but some federations, such as international swimming body Fina, had argued that a revision was needed immediately.
The IOC distributes the broadcast revenue from Olympic TV deals to the 28 sports, placed in four groups. Federations in the two lower groups are allocated $13 million and $11 million respectively.
Alminova banned for three months
ATHLETICS:European indoor 1,500 metres champion Anna Alminova has been banned for three months for failing a drugs test, the world's athletics governing body IAAF said yesterday.
The 25-year-old Russian tested positive for the banned substance preudoephedrine at last months world indoor championships in Doha, where she finished seventh in the 1,500m final, the IAAF said on its website (www.iaaf.org).
Viktor Berezov, a member of the anti-doping commission of the Russian athletics federation, said Alminova was given a lighter sentence because she had treated herself with an over-the-counter cold medicine containing the substance.
Alminova, whose suspension ends on July 8th, said she plans to compete at the forthcoming European championships in Barcelona from July 27 to August 1.
Davis on the brink as Robertson shows no mercy
SNOOKER:Neil Robertson acted the part of the villain at the Crucible Theatre last night as he closed in on the kill against Steve Davis.
Davis was on the brink of making a painful quarter-final exit from the World Championship, trailing 12-4 to the man who has made a cruel habit of humiliating him on his favourite stage.
Robertson looked set to go through with a session to spare but still needs one more frame after Davis took the last two of the evening to postpone what is surely an inevitable defeat.
Mark Selby let Ronnie O’Sullivan off the hook as an intriguing first session between two of the sport’s most potent potters was littered with mistakes and finished all square. O’Sullivan finished off with a break of 81 to draw level at 4-4, but his potting was as unpredictable as his behaviour. At one stage O’Sullivan sat in the front row with journalists while Selby played a shot and then he left his seat to watch events on the other table, peering around the curtain to check on Ali Carter and Shaun Murphy.
Pollock extends Aussie contract
RUGBY: Australia have moved to strengthen their backrow before next year's World Cup by extending flanker David Pocock's Australian Rugby Union (ARU) contract to the end of the 2012 season.
The Zimbabwe-born 22-year-old will remain at Perth-based Western Force for the next two Super rugby seasons. The 15-Test loose forward has been in strong form since returning from injury for the Force.
