Sports

LONDON, (Reuters) – England took the early honours  in the first test against India at Lord’s yesterday before the  rain which blighted the series against Sri Lanka again had the  final say.

COL DU GALIBIER, France, (Reuters) – Australian  Cadel Evans was both puzzled by the time lost by most Tour de  France favourites during the 18th stage yesterday and annoyed  that he had to lead a lone chase of Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – World and Olympic champion pole  vaulter Steve Hooker has modest expectations when he returns to  competition for the first time in nine months at the Diamond  League meet in Monaco today.

SOFIA, (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s parliament has approved  legal amendments under which anyone convicted of attempting to  fix sports events will face up to six years in jail.

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Standing seven-foot, six  inches tall and weighing 140 kilograms it is hard to imagine Yao  Ming being afraid of anything, but the Chinese basketball icon,  who retired on Wednesday, told Reuters he was “scared” after  being taken first in the 2002 NBA draft.

LONDON, (Reuters) – For Sebastian Coe, London 2012  has entered the ‘Killing Zone’,  a crucial stretch that will  determine whether the Games meet the Olympic gold standard in  one year’s time or fall back among the also-rans.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Disgraced Olympic sprinter  Marion Jones has been released by the Tulsa Shock, putting her Women’s National Basketball Association career in jeopardy, the team said yesterday.

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – China’s Chen Ruolin won her  second gold medal of the world swimming championships yesterday when her compatriot Hu Yadan blew her penultimate dive  to hand the Beijing Olympic champion the womens’ 10 metres  platform diving title.

Guyana’s Under-19 cricket team completed a convincing innings and 27-run win over the Leeward Islands in  their opening round clash of the 2011 West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) three-day competition at the Providence National Stadium yesterday.

The stage is all set for this weekend’s Digcel sponsored Horse Race Classic scheduled for the Norman Singh Turf Club, Number Six Village, West Coast Berbice.

Leslain Baird continued his impressive form on the second day of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Inter-Unit Championships held at Camp Ayanganna ground yesterday.

Despite the fight the Windward Islands put up against challengers Barbados, the Bajans completed a 95-run victory in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Under-19 three-day tourney held at the Demerara Cricket Club ground yesterday.

DOHA, (Reuters) – Suspended Asian soccer  chief Mohamed Bin Hammam says a campaign has been waged against  him within “certain quarters” at FIFA to “eliminate” him from  the game amid investigations over a cash-for-votes bribery  scandal.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Sachin Tendulkar at the peak of  his considerable powers can mark the 2,000th test at Lord’s  starting today with an unprecedented 100th international  century at the headquarters of world cricket when India face  England.

LONDON, (Reuters) – England left-arm spinner Monty  Panesar has been bowling at Sachin Tendulkar in the Lord’s nets  as the Indian master prepares for the first test starting at  world cricket’s headquarters today.

LONDON, (Reuters) – England captain Andrew Strauss  expressed reservations yesterday about the decision to  dispense with ball-tracking technology during the four-test  series against India starting at Lord’s today.

International Power Generation Company Wartsila will sponsor Saturday’s Medal Play Golf tournament that will have several attractive prizes at stake in the 18-hole tournament.

Jamaica crushed Trinidad and Tobago by 10 wickets in their opening match in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) under-19 three-day tourney held at the Everest Cricket Club ground yesterday.

LAUDERHILL, Florida, CMC – Bermuda notched up their second win but almost came unstuck in a rain-hit match before beating Suriname by eight runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method in an ICC Americas Region Division One Twenty20 Championship match here on Tuesday.

The Wind Jammer Inter-national Hotel along with former junior national player Carey Griffith made a contribution of $100,000 yesterday to Guyana’s National Basketball team now preparing for the 21st Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships in the Bahamas from July 23-29.