Sports News: General

By Mark Meadows
MILAN (Reuters) - Double amputee Oscar Pistorius can try to qualify for the Beijing Olympics after winning his appeal against a ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the South African's lawyer said on Friday.

Leander Paes and his Spanish partner Tommy Robredo notched up a straight set victory over Ivan Ljubicic and R Soderling to storm into the doubles semifinals of the euro 2,270,000 Hamburg ATP Master Series event Hamburg on Friday.

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Colin Ebelthite and Samuel Groth of Australia won the doubles title of the $50,000 SAIL Open ATP challenger beating Mohammad Ghareeb of Kuwait and Ilia Marchenko of Ukraine in a closely fought final here Friday.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) _ Results of Friday's semifinal at the Thomas Cup badminton championships at Jakarta's Senayan Sports Palace.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) _ Defending champion China recovered from an early loss by top-ranked Lin Dan to defeat Malaysia 3-2 on Friday and advance to the final of the Thomas Cup.

TOKYO (AP) _ Grand champion Hakuho pushed out Wakanoho on Friday, adding another victory to stay unbeaten in a two-way lead at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.

By Sanjay Rajan
MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan said on Friday that he will stay with the A1 Grand Prix series next year but had not given up on a Formula One comeback.

Needing nothing short of a win in their last round robin match to reach the final, India will leave no stone unturned as they meet hosts Malaysia in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament in Ipoh on Saturday.

Adare Manor (Ireland), May 16 (IANS) Indian duo Jeev Milkha Singh and S.S.P. Chowrasia had brilliant starts to their European campaign as they both had bogey-free rounds on the first day of the Irish Open golf tournament.

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Indian challenge ended in the doubles as well when Prakash Amritraj along with his US-based Indian partner, Rajeev Ram lost to the Australian pair of Samuel Groth and Colin Ebelthite in the $50,000 SAIL Open ATP challenger at the DLTA Complex here Friday.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) _ Fullback Nick Evans kicked a penalty for the only points of the second half to lift the Auckland Blues to a 19-17 win Friday over Wellington, leaving both teams uncertain of qualifying for rugby's Super 14 semifinals.

By Balazs Koranyi
BUDAORS, Hungary (Reuters) - Diana Igaly's determination to defend her Olympic skeet shooting title nearly landed her in police custody.

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ Michael Clarke will miss Australia's first cricket test against the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica after remaining in Sydney due to the death of his fiancee's father.

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ French World Cup star Zinedine Zidane will head an international side set to play an Australian team in a soccer exhibition on June 1 at Sydney Football Stadium.

Hamburg, May 16 (DPA) Rafael Nadal spoiled the birthday of Andy Murray to reach the quarterfinals of the Hamburg Masters along with the other top stars Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

London, May 16 (ANI): Ace Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that he would consider his future at the club after next week's Champions League final.

Days after Kavita Devi brought another dope shame to the country, Sports Minister MS Gill has asked Indian Weightlifting Federation chief Harbhajan Singh to explain him on Monday how the Federation would deal with the drug menace in the sport.

Moscow, May 16 (DPA) Russian politicians stumbled over themselves to exalt St Petersburg club Zenit Thursday on their 2-0 UEFA cup victory over the Rangers in Manchester.

Madrid, May 16 (DPA) Portugal midfielder Deco has announced his intention to leave troubled Spanish giants Barcelona.