Digest

OLYMPIC pole vault champion and world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva has been voted female European athlete of the year. In a poll organised by the European Athletics Association and voted on by the public and media, the Russian was announced as the winner yesterday ahead of Czech javelin thrower Barbora Spotakova and Belgian high jumper Tia Hellebaut. The 26-year-old Isinbayeva set four world records this year, the last when she extended her Olympic title at the Beijing Olympics with a record

THE head of Belgian Olympic Committee wants its top official at the World Anti-Doping Agency to resign after a retiring athlete said the doctor had advised him to take illegal products a decade ago. Despite the urging from chairman Pierre-Olivier Beckers, Renno Roelandt has refused to step down. Instead, the Olympic committee decided on Monday to open an investigation into the allegations from sprinter Erik Wijmeersch that Roelandt advised him in 1998 to take illegal growth hormones. "It is Dr Roelandt who is best placed to know what he should do," committee spokesman Luc Rampaer said. Wijmeersch, a multiple Belgian champion who never broke through at an international level, said he took doping products for three years, until 2001. Roelandt, a deputy chairman of the Belgian Olympic committee, is not accused of providing him with drugs, only giving the advice.BASEBALL

THE Chicago White Sox captured the American League Central Division title with a thrilling 1-0 win over the Minnesota Twins in a sudden-death playoff game on Tuesday. Jim Thome's solo home run in the seventh inning off Minnesota starter Nick Blackburn accounted for the game's only run, sending the White Sox into the AL Divisional Series against the Tampa Bay Rays starting today.BOXING

KEVIN McIntyre, the Paisley welterweight, is likely to enjoy home advantage when he bids to win back the British title from Englishman Kell Brook. McIntyre had been scheduled to face Brook in Birmingham on 31 October but it emerged last night that promoters Sports Network are looking at staging the bout a fortnight later in Glasgow. Sports Network are understood to have opened negotiations with representatives of the Kelvin Hall with a view to promoting a bill there on 14 November. If the show goes ahead it is also likely to feature Coatbridge super-featherweight Ricky Burns in a first defence of the Commonwealth crown he won against Osumanu Akaba six days ago.

WILLIE Limond's Madison Square Garden debut on 8 November is under increasing threat. The former Commonwealth lightweight champion from Glasgow is scheduled to face Dmitriy Salita on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe's world title showdown with Roy Jones. But major doubts remain following a previous cancellation and the fact that contracts have still not been exchanged. A spokesman for Limond's promoters, Braveheart also warned yesterday: "This is the first time Willie will be fighting a genuine light-welterweight and if Salita is over-weight the fight won't happen. The New York State Athletic Commission has a rule whereby a fighter can be two pounds over, but we want it stated in the contract that if he is as much as an ounce over Willie will not be fighting." Limond has turned down the chance to face Amir Khan's conqueror, Breidis Prescott on a Sports Network bill in Liverpool on 10 October because it is too short notice. Limond said: "Hopefully we can get this New York situation resolved although we have various options now and it's a case of trying to keep them all open."CRICKET

INDIAN selectors have retained former captain Saurav Ganguly in a 15-player squad named yesterday for the first two games of the four-Test series against Australia starting on 9 October. Ganguly, 36, had been under pressure to keep his place as the elder statesman of the team's four veteran batting stalwarts, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. The selectors also included middle-order batsman Subramaniam Badrinath, who has played three one-dayers for India, and leg spinner Amit Mishra as back up for captain Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. The pair replace batsman Rohit Sharma and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha from the side which lost the previous test series in Sri Lanka, 2-1. The first Test will be played in Bangalore from 9 October, with the second game of the four-match series starting in Mohali on 17 October. New Delhi and Nagpur stage the last two matches.

SQUAD: Anil Kumble (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Saurav Ganguly, Subramaniam Badrinath, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra.GOLF

SENIOR HOME INTERNATIONALS (Tenby GC, Wales, Day Two results) England 4 Scotland 4 Foursomes (England names first) G King & C Reynolds halved with R McLellan & D Murphy; D Arnold & A Squires lost to I Hutcheon & J Fraser 8&7; G Broster & D Jessup bt G MacDonald & S Pirie 1 hole. Foursomes result: England 1.5 Scotland 1.5 Singles: Squires bt MacDonald 4&3; Arnold bt Hutcheon 3&1; King bt R Stewart 5&4; Jessup lost to McLellan 1 hole; P Slater lost to Murphy 1 hole; Broster lost to Fraser 4&3. Singles result: England 3 Scotland 3. Ireland 7 Wales 2.

SENIOR WOMEN'S HOME INTERNATIONALS (Little Aston Golf Club) Day 2: England 6, Scotland 2 Foursomes: C Quinn & C Watson bt L Bennett & F De Vries 4 and 3; J Collingham & BN Laird bt M Smith & H Anderson 2 and 1; C Stirling & C Kirk bt F Hunter & J Harrison 2 holes (3-0). Singles: S Dye halved with Bennett, Kirk lost to De Vries 3 and 2, Collingham bt Anderson 4 and 2, Watson halved with Harrison, Stirling bt Hunter 4 and 3 (3-2). Ireland 1, Wales 7 Foursomes: H Jones & S O'Brien-Kenney bt J Rees & J Doleman 2 and 1; M McKenna & M Madden lost to V Thomas & J O'Connor 3 and 2; V McBride & M Henderson lost to A Lewis & D Richards 5 and 4 (1-2). Singles: O'Brien-Kenney lost to Rees 4 and 3, Jones lost to Thomas 2 and 1, V Hassett lost to H Joyce 2 holes, Madden lost to Doleman 3 and 1, McBride lost to Lewis 1 hole (0-5). How they stand: England and Wales 2 wins each, Scotland and Ireland 0 wins each.GRIDIRON

PATRIOTS coach Bill Belichick is declining comment on a tapping-up accusation levelled against his team by Raiders owner Al Davis. Belichick was asked yesterday about Davis' statement and said that the Patriots are concentrating on Sunday's game against the 49ers in San Francisco. New England wide receiver Randy Moss also declined to comment. Davis had said on Tuesday that the Patriots tapped-up Moss before they obtained him from Oakland in a trade during last year's NFL draft. MOTORSPORT

RUSTY Wallace denied a report by his brother that claims he is considering a return to NASCAR. Kenny Wallace wrote in his SpeedTv.com blog that the 52-year-old former champion is pondering a return to the Sprint Cup Series, and said it was rumored he'd fill a seat at Dale Earnhardt Inc. Rusty Wallace retired after the 2005 season and is a TV analyst. "I love Kenny to death – he's been trying to get me back in a car ever since I retired after 2005," Rusty Wallace said yesterday in a statement issued through his son, Greg. "While any rumors like this are certainly flattering, they're untrue. I have a long-term commitment to ABC and ESPN and I really love what I'm doing right now."OLYMPICS

CHINESE female gymnasts who competed at this year's Beijing Olympics were not underage, the sport's governing body said yesterday after investigating claims the Games hosts fielded ineligible athletes. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) had asked the Chinese federation to submit documents proving the birthdates of five members of the gold-winning team – He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, Li Shanshan, Deng Linlin and Yang Yilin. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had specifically asked the FIG to investigate double Olympic gold-medallist He, who was registered as 16 although online media reports suggested she may have been 14. Gymnasts must turn 16 in the year of an Olympics to take part.SNOOKER

WORLD No 2 Stephen Maguire is aiming to do the Chinese double following a first-round win over Barry Hawkins at the Shanghai Masters yesterday. The reigning China Open champion progressed to today's last 16 clash with Stuart Bingham following a nervy 5-3 win over Hawkins. Although the 27-year-old Glaswegian was never behind in the match, he had to fight jet-lag following his late arrival in the Far East. His connecting flight from Glasgow to London was cancelled due to fog on Saturday and he subsequently missed his flight to Shanghai and arrived a day late. "I was anxious to get over the line so I was relieved to get there in the end," said Maguire, who sunk breaks of 65, 71 and 40 in the match. "I enjoy playing in China because it's always a good atmosphere," he continued. "Obviously, I won the tournament in Beijing last season so to repeat that and do the double would be fantastic." Last year's runner-up, Ryan Day, will face former two-time world champion John Higgins for a place in the last eight after he whitewashed home favourite Liang Wenbo 5-0 in his first match. There was also a win for Hong Kong's Marco Fu and he will face Andy Hicks this morning after overcoming Anthony Hamilton 5-2. Former world champions Shaun Murphy and Peter Ebdon, Chinese favourite Ding Junhui and , World Championship runner-up Ali Carter all lost in first-round action.

ROEWE SHANGHAI MASTERS, 1st rd (Best of nine frames): D Harold bt Ding Junhui 5-3, A Hicks bt S Murphy 5-1, M Williams bt A Carter 5-2, S Bingham bt P Ebdon 5-3, S Maguire bt B Hawkins 5-3, M Fu bt A Hamilton 5-2, R Day bt L Wenbo 5-0. TENNIS

ROGER Federer has withdrawn from next week's Stockholm Open saying he needs to rest before starting his quest to reclaim the top spot in the world rankings. Federer said in a statement on his website that he had been playing catch-up all year after being diagnosed with mononucleosis at the start of 2008. "I feel fortunate to be healthy again, but I want to remain at the top of the game for many more years to come and go after the No 1 ranking again," Federer said. "In order to do that, I need to get a proper rest and get strong again so that I am 100 per cent fit for the remainder of the year or next year. At this point, I am not sure when I will be ready to play again, but I hope to be back at some point before the end of the year." Federer apologised to fans who had hoped to see him play in the tournament, which starts Monday at Stockholm's Royal Tennis Hall. The second-ranked Federer lost the No 1 spot to Rafael Nadal this year after the Spaniard beat his Swiss rival in both the French Open and Wimbledon final.

SERENA Williams will lose her No 1 spot when the new world rankings come out on Monday following her second-round defeat ay the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart yesterday. The American suffered a stunning collapse after taking the first set against Li Na, losing 0-6, 6-1, 6-4.

ATP & WTA TOUR AIG JAPAN OPEN (Tokyo). Women: 1st rd: (2) A Medina Garrigues (Spa) bt Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) 3-6 6-2 6-3, (7) T Tanasugarn (Tha) bt C Pin (Fra) 6-2 6-2, (5) K Kanepi (Est) bt Y Wickmayer (Bel) 3-6 6-1 6-0, S Stosur (Aus) bt V King (USA) 6-2 ret, J Gajdosova (Svk) bt (6) S Peer (Isr) 5-7 6-1 7-6 (11-9). Men: 2nd rd: (14) J Melzer (Aut) bt S Stadler (Ger) 6-2 6-3, (12) R Schuettler (Ger) bt Hyung Taik Lee (Kor) 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3, (1) D Ferrer (Spa) bt J Levine (USA) 6-4 4-6 6-1, (11) J Nieminen (Fin) bt C Mamiit (Phi) 7-6 (9-7) 6-4, (7) J-W Tsonga (Fra) bt B Reynolds (USA) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4, (9) T Berdych (Cze) bt R Karanusic (Cro) 6-3 6-4, (6) T Robredo (Spa) bt J Sirianni (Aus) 6-2 6-2, (8) M Youzhny (Rus) bt F Cipolla (Ita) 6-2 6-2, K Nishikori (Jpn) bt (16) G Garcia-Lopez (Spa) 6-4 6-4, V Troicki (Ser) bt W Odesnik (USA) 6-2 6-1, T Suzuki (Jpn) bt (15) S Bolelli (Ita) 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-5), A Delic (USA) bt (13) S Querrey (USA) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, (4) R Gasquet (Fra) bt M Slanar (Aut) 6-4 6-2, (2) A Roddick (USA) bt I Minar (Cze) 7-6 (13-11) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2), (3) F Gonzalez (Chi) bt Yen-Hsun Lu (Tpe) 1-6 7-5 6-3, (5) J M Del Potro (Arg) bt D Sela (Isr) 7-5 6-0.

WTA TOUR TASHKENT OPEN (Uzbekistan). 2nd rd: (4) S Lisicki (Ger) bt A Panova (Rus) 7-5 6-1, A Rus (Ned) bt V Ekshibarova (Uzb) 3-6 6-2 6-1, (5) M Rybarikova (Svk) bt V Manasieva (Rus) 6-1 7-5, : I Raluca Olaru (Rou) bt (Q) K Palkina (Kgz) 2-6 6-3 6-2, U Radwanska (Pol) bt S Shapatava (Geo) 7 5 6 2.

ATP OPEN DE MOSELLE (Metz, France). 2nd rd: (5) D Tursunov (Rus) bt J Acasuso (Arg) 6-2 6-2, (7) R Stepanek (Cze) bt J Benneteau (Fra) 6-3 6-3, A Mannarino (Fra) bt (6) A Seppi (Ita) 6-4 6-2, R De Voest (SA) bt A Clement (Fra) 4-6 6-2 7-5, J Tipsarevic (Ser) bt E Gulbis (Lat) 6-4 6-4.

WTA TOUR PORSCHE TENNIS GRAND PRIX (Stuttgart). 1st rd: (7) V Zvonareva (Rus) bt D Hantuchova (Svk) 6-3 6-2, P Schnyder (Swi) bt (5) S Kuznetsova (Rus) 6-4 4-6 7-5. Second round: V Azarenka (Blr) bt (8) A Radwanska (Pol) 6-1 7-5.