A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Khan expects sternest test in Vegas
BOXING: AMIR Khan believes he will face the sternest test of his career when he goes head to head with Zab Judah in Las Vegas on Saturday night. "He's a five-time world champion and a two-weight world champion," said Khan. "He's got skill and that southpaw style which is very awkward."
Khan's previous outing against against another southpaw, Irishman Paul McCloskey, came to an unsatisfactory conclusion.
An accidental clash of heads in the sixth round opened a cut above the left eye of European champion McCloskey and brought an early conclusion to a scrappy bout.
"I'd have finished that fight quite differently if it was up to me," Khan said. "If I was the referee I'd have let the fight continue. But even if I was Paul McCloskey I would have tried to force the ref to let the fight continue. It seemed to me when the ref was having a look at him and calling the doctor in that Paul McCloskey was just quiet."
Ishchenko scoops 12th world gold
SWIMMING: RUSSIA'S Natalia Ishchenko scooped her 12th World Championships gold medal as she combined with Svetlana Romashina to win the synchronised swimming duets technical competition yesterday.
The 25-year-old Ishchenko, who won her third successive solo technical gold on Sunday, dazzled to an upbeat jungle-themed routine with heavy drum rhythms and animal calls to help score 98.20 points, which brought an audible gasp from the small crowd that bounced around the Oriental Sports Centre. China's Huang Xuechen, who clinched silver behind Ishchenko in the solo competition, was second with Liu Ou on 96.50. Spain's Andrea Fuentes won her second bronze of the championships after she and Ona Carbonell combined.
Timeless Test to make return
CRICKET: THE introduction of a world Test championship could see the return of the timeless Test for the first time in over 70 years.
The International Cricket Council's chief executive Haroon Lorgat has suggested the historical format, which places no time constraints on players and allows for an open-ended match, is under consideration to ensure a planned Test 'final' finishes with a positive result.
Lorgat was at Lord's as part of the build-up to tomorrow's 2,000th Test match, between England and India.
Meanwhile, the ICC have revealed a fans-selected "Dream" team of Test greats. Based on 250,000 votes cast worldwide, the team consists of four Australians, four Indians, two West Indians and one Pakistani.
FANS' DREAM XI: Virender Sehwag (Ind), Sunil Gavaskar (Ind), Donald Bradman (Aus), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), Brian Lara (WInd), Kapil Dev (Ind), Adam Gilchrist (wkt, Aus), Shane Warne (Aus), Wasim Akram (Pak), Curtly Ambrose (WInd), Glenn McGrath (Aus).
Armstrong's legal team asks judge to probe leaks
CYCLING:THE legal team for Lance Armstrong, who is under federal investigation for doping, has asked a US judge to probe apparent leaks of secret grand jury proceedings examining the sport.
Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven times, has denied taking banned substances but has had to fend off accusations by former team-mates he did so despite never failing drug tests.
The cyclist's newly hired legal team filed a motion in federal court in California asking a judge to investigate purported leaks from grand jury proceedings and require prosecutors to show why they should not be held in contempt.
"Each leak has revealed information damaging to Armstrong's reputation and has been carefully calculated to drum up publicity and cultivate public support for an investigation that is, to say the least, questionable in both its motive and its merits," his lawyers wrote in the 20-page motion filed last week released yesterday.
A grand jury reviews possible wrongdoing and decides whether to issue an indictment based on evidence presented. The proceedings are mostly secret. Only witnesses who go before them may talk about what they said to the panel.
Armstrong in May hired two prominent defence lawyers, John Keker and Elliot Peters. They won a case for the Major League Baseball Players Association in which an appeals court ruled federal agents did not have the right to seize anonymous drug test results.
O'Reilly named in Irish squad
BOXING: BRANDENBURG Cup champion Michael O'Reilly has been named in the Irish Youth squad to meet England, Italy and Scotland in a round robin tournament at the National Stadium in Dublin this weekend. O'Reilly, who boxes out of the Portlaoise BC, claimed gold and the boxer of the tournament award in Germany last month after posting four wins in four days over Germany, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine and Russia.
Evan Metcalfe, Hugh Myres and Joe Sweeney will treble up at 49kg for the three-day tournament at IABA HQ, while Dean Walsh and Patrick Nevin are named at flyweight.
Irish champ George Bates will compete at bantamweight and Dylan Carr and Keane McMahon at lightweight. Kieran Forde, Eddie Byrne, Gary Sweeney, Jack Morrissey and Thomas Conroy have also been named in the Ireland squad.
Trump suffers upset Down Under
SNOOKER: JUDD Trump suffered an upset in the last 32 of the Australian Open in Bendigo yesterday. The 21-year-old, who was runner-up to John Higgins at the World Championship earlier this year, lost 5-3 to Mark Davis, ranked 10 places below him in the world standings at number 19.
Breaks of 84 and 91 in the first two frames put the 38-year-old Davis in control and he never looked back as he closed the match out against the China Open champion in two hours and 21 minutes.
World number seven Shaun Murphy claimed a 5-3 victory over Andrew Higginson to move into the last 16.
In the evening session, Peter Ebdon capitulated to lose 5-3 to Rory McLeod in a match lasting three hours 52 minutes.
Stephen Hendry navigated his way to a 5-3 win over Martin Gould.
