| Sania Mirza in quarter finals Hyderabad: Continuing her winning streak, Sania Mirza outplayed Jewel Peterson (US) 7-5, 6-2 to storm into quarter finals of the Chris Evert women’s tournament in Florida. Sania, the qualifier in this tournament, played a tight fisted game in the first set against Peterson, ranked world 324, clinching the issue at 7-5, according to information reaching here on Friday. Peterson, who entered pre-quarters defeating sixth seed Xie Yan-ze of China could not sustain the fast pace of Sania who won by a comfortable 6-2 verdict. The Wimbledon Grand Slam winner in girls’ doubles has earned a bonus point for defeating a top-500 ranking player. In the quarter final Sania will meet third seed Petra Rampre of Slovakia. Schumi ends winter break London: Michael Schumacher ended his winter break and returned to work on Thursday for his first Ferrari test since he won a record sixth Formula One title last October. “How nice it is to be back in the car. We really missed it,” the German told reporters after completing 98 laps at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. “I was already a bit nervous but I have to say it really went well,” added Schumacher, who spun off on his first lap back at the circuit last year. “To see the guys again was beautiful and you could almost feel their motivation.” Schumacher’s best lap of one minute 15.408 seconds in last year’s F2003-GA was the second fastest but still well down on the day’s quickest time of 1:14.607 set by BAR’s Briton Jenson Button in a development car. Hayatou back on top Tunis: Issa Hayatou swept back into power with a landslide win in the Confederation of African Football presidential elections on Thursday, beating his Botswanan opponent Ismail Bhamjee by 46 votes to six. The four-year mandate for the 59-year-old Cameroonian will extend his leadership of African football until 2008, giving him 20 years in the top job. “I can reassure you I am here to again serve African football,” Hayatou said in his victory speech. “CAF should remain what it is, an African organisation run by Africans,” he said in an apparent reference to his opponent’s Indian ancestry. BBC says sorry to Lennox Lewis London: World heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis’ business manager accepted on Thursday an apology and “substantial” damages from the BBC over derogatory remarks made about him by promoter Don King in a radio interview. Adrian Ogun and his firm Sport Entertainment and Media Group (SEM) had sued over a BBC Radio 5 Live interview in which King poured scorn on the deal for Lewis to fight Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko last year. “The BBC accepts that it should not have broadcast Mr King’s views in the manner that it did. It sincerely regrets the broadcast and online reports of which Mr Ogun and SEM complain, and offers its sincere apology to both,” said BBC lawyer Ben Mawson. ITF advice to avoid drugs Melbourne: Players at grassroot levels should be educated about drugs so the temptation to take performance-enhancing substances does not exist, the head of International Tennis Federation (ITF) said on Friday. ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti, a board member of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), suggested junior players might also have to be subjected to drugs tests to enforce that message. “With education we have to prevent the young people who are good in sport to think they are better if they take substances,” he said. ‘Pointless’ Scots Glasgow: Scottish top-flight clubs that go into administration next season will be docked 10 points and forbidden from signing new players, the chairman of the premier league said on Thursday. “There are no simple or easy options. Punishment should be through sporting sanctions and the 10-point deduction is linked to the embargo on buying players,” Lex Gold, a former chairman of Hibernian said. The new ruling will be enforced from May 31. Sport on Screen Tennis, Australian Open live from 5.30am on STAR Sports
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