Nadal looking for 9th Barcelona title
BARCElONA: Fresh from winning his ninth Monte Carlo Masters title, Rafael Nadal arrived in Spain ready to win his ninth at the Barcelona Open. The 14-time Grand Slam champion has a bye in the first round and will face either Marcel Granollers and Daniel Munoz de la Nava in his opening match. The win over Gael Monfils on Sunday in Monte Carlo gave the Spaniard a record-equaling 28th Masters title. "I'm really happy to have won one of the most important tournaments of the year," Nadal said on Monday. With the French Open approaching, Nadal is improving on clay. He has won the title at Roland Garros a record nine times, but lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals last year. Nadal is the biggest name at the Barcelona Open, but the draw also includes defending champion Kei Nishikori, David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet.
Russian doping cases hearings in May
lausanne (Switzerland): The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hold hearings next month in the doping cases of 12 Russian track and field athletes hoping to compete at the Olympics. Verdicts are expected a few weeks later, CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb told The Associated Press on Monday. The highest court in sports took over the cases because Russia's track and field federation was suspended by the IAAF in November after allegations of state-sponsored doping made by a World Anti-Doping Agency panel. The cases include former world heptathlon champion Tatyana Chernova and five race walkers who tested positive for EPO on the same day last June at the national training center at Saransk. In some cases, athletes have agreed to a fast-track single CAS hearing without an appeal stage.
ICC World T20 delivers record views
Dubai: The recently-concluded World Twenty20 has set records galore across broadcast and digital platforms with 320 million video views recorded across ICC digital properties and social media pages. The tournament, which was won by the West Indies men's and women's teams, was the first major ICC event produced by ICC TV. It involved coverage of 48 matches across seven venues in India using 30 cameras at each venue. ICC's broadcast partners across the world also delivered record ratings and viewership. In India alone, the India versus Pakistan encounter rated 17.3 across the Star Sports network and Doordarshan, the best rated T20 match ever since the 2007 World T20 final, reaching 83 million people. And the cumulative in-home viewership for the event in India was 730 million, an increase of 114 per cent over the previous edition.
UEFA charges liverpool
Nyon (Switzerland): European football's governing body (UEFA) has opened disciplinary proceedings against liverpool, whose fans threw a flare during the second leg of the Europa league quarter-finals against Borussia Dortmund . The match was played at the Anfield stadium last Thursday, reports Efe. The procedure has been initiated under Article 16 of the UEFA disciplinary regulations. The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body will discuss this issue on May 19, the same date when a decision on similar incidents, which took place during the first leg tie in Germany, will be taken. liverpool won the second leg 4-3 to advance to the Europa league semi-finals after the first leg ended 1-1.