Usain Bolt believes the 100 meters can be run in 9.4 seconds, though he says winning another Olympic gold medal would be good enough for him.

Bolt said he would like to be a fixture on the short list of Olympic sprinters who have won gold medals in consecutive Olympics. He shattered world records in the 100 and 200 in Beijing to win his first gold medals.

 His world-record time in the 100 stands at 9.58 seconds.

As of this week, the London Olympics are less than two years away. Currently, Bolt is preparing for a race next month in Stockholm that will pit him against his biggest competition American Tyson Gay and fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell. – AP

LONDON: Arsene Wenger wants Arsenal to use this weekend’s Emirates Cup clashes against AC Milan and Celtic to send a warning to their Premier League rivals.

Wenger’s side have gone five years without a trophy and finished well behind champions Chelsea last season, but the Gunners boss is convinced the north Londoners are ready to end that barren spell.

Arsenal have an early opportunity to underline their progress in a prestigious pre-season tournament, at their own Emirates Stadium, which includes seven-time European champions Milan, Scottish giants Celtic and top French club Lyon.

After spending most of the close-season fighting off Barcelona’s attempts to lure Cesc Fabregas back to the Nou Camp, Wenger is able to focus on assessing the development of his young squad and he expects positive signs.

“I am very confident we’ll do better than last season,” Wenger said. “We know in England that the Premier League is the biggest league in the world and everybody invests a lot of money.

“We invest in our work, in our beliefs, in the quality of our behaviour and I am confident that will pay off.

“We finished third last year and we hope we can improve on that. But the race will be tough.”

Fabregas made it clear to Wenger he wanted to rejoin Barca before the start of the season, but Arsenal are refusing to give in to their captain’s demands and there is no sign of the deadlock being broken.

The Spain midfielder will be absent this weekend as he recovers from helping his country win the World Cup, but Wenger is certain to face further questions about his desire to keep a potentially unhappy player.

With Fabregas missing, Arsenal fans will get a glimpse of how the future could look without their talisman.

New arrivals Marouane Chamakh, a Moroccan forward signed from Bordeaux on a free transfer, and Laurent Koscielny, a French centre-back bought from Lorient for 10 million pounds, are certain to feature for the Gunners.

While Wenger’s men head into the season with much to prove, Celtic will use their matches against Lyon and Arsenal to rebuild confidence after a potentially disastrous 3-0 defeat at Braga in the Champions League qualifying round on Wednesday.

Neil Lennon’s team travelled to Portugal hopeful of a positive result to keep them on course for a place in the group stages of Europe’s elite club competition.

Instead they slumped to a loss that places their progress in severe jeopardy and leaves Lennon with a dilemma over whether to risk his first-team players or rest them for next week’s second leg.

Both Milan and Lyon have named strong squads for the tournament and the Italians, who finished third in Serie A last season, could feature the likes of fading Brazilian star Ronaldinho and his talented young compatriot Alexandre Pato.

Fixtures:

Saturday

Celtic v Lyon (1300GMT)

Arsenal v AC Milan (1520GMT)

Sunday

AC Milan v Lyon (1300GMT)

Arsenal v Celtic (1520GMT) – AFP

BUDAPEST: Felipe Massa insisted on Friday that he was not prepared to play second fiddle to Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso as the storm over Formula One team orders continued to rage.

The Brazilian was at the wrong end of a controversial demand to pull over and let Alonso overtake and go on to claim victory in Germany last weekend.

When asked at the Hungaroring circuit ahead of Friday’s first free practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix what would happen if he was faced with the same situation, he replied, “I will win.

“The time I say I am number two driver, I will not race any more.

“I have spoken to everybody inside the team and as I said I am not here merely to race, I am here to win. That is really my point.

“As long as I am in the condition to win, we need to go to the end, to fight for the victory.

“I am a professional, I work for the team and everybody has to understand my point.”

Massa added that the decisions he made in Germany were for the benefit of the team and recalled when he had supported Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, and that Raikkonen had returned the favour in 2008, when Massa was chasing the title.

“I am working for the team and we know how important it is to work for the team,” he said.

“You remember what happened in 2007 and 2008, so I don’t think I have to go through all the points. If the team really has the chance to win the championship, I want the best for the team.”

Alonso also insisted that Massa was not the team’s number two driver and claimed that any choices made in Germany were in the team’s best interests.

“I think there is not a number one or number two driver,” he said.

“I think it is more about respect of each other, respect of racing for the Scuderia - which means a lot.”

The Spaniard said he was unfazed by all the criticism generated by Ferrari’s instruction which earned them a 100,000 dollar fine and a disciplinary hearing date at the FIA’s World Motor Sports Council.

“Of course it doesn’t affect me, not at all.

“If we lost one per cent of our concentration in everything they say we’d be lost.

“Not only because of Germany, but because there’s always a small anecdote in every race.

“One time is the crash between the Red Bulls in Turkey, another time is the overtaking in the pitlane between Massa and me - there’s always something to talk about next week so we can’t pay too much attention.”

Alonso added that he was not worried about the WMSC’s pending decision and was instead focussed on his team’s performance in Budapest and grabbing as many points as possible.

“Anything that happens in the future of the WMSC is not in our hands,” added Alonso.

“From a drivers’ point of view we just need to concentrate and drive well and be okay.”

“I think we are happy with the performance of the car in the last couple of races and in Germany finally there was the point we arrived with both cars at the chequered flag without problems and we scored points.

“But also in Silverstone and Valencia the car was good, so our aim here is to continue in this line.

“I think we will see. At the moment the drivers, now we need to concentrate on driving, we have a very interesting GP here in Hungary.” – AFP

LAHORE: Heavy downpours forced the Group-B match between Pakistan WAPDA and Balochistan to abandonment today in the sixth National Women’s Football Championship at Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad.

Earlier, first timers Peshawar’s Frontier College lived up to their “Giant killer” reputation with a 1-1 draw against a much seasoned HEC in their Group-C encounter at the same venue. Frontier progressed to the quarters with the draw, already having won their match with Sindh 1-0 on Tuesday.

Frontier, under coaching of Gohar Zaman, worked extremely hard for an inexperienced side with Rabia Zaman, the skilful playmaker, dominating the field. The first half was locked 0-0 with both the teams relying too heavily on defensive tactics. Both the goals were recorded in the second session.

HEC broke the deadlock in the 54th minute when striker Hina Qasim cut in from the left and clipped the ball past an advancing Frontier keeper. Hardly three minutes had elapsed before Frontier snatched the equalizer with midfielder Uzma Usman’s long range drive which eluded several defenders before going into the left corner. That, however, was to be the last attacking play of the game before the game ended in a draw. HEC require draw against Sindh on Saturday to enter the quarter-finals.

In the rained out match, WAPDA required three clear points to progress to the quarter-final stage against Balochistan and looked likely to do so after getting the lead in the sixth minute through poaching striker Nadia Bhatti. WAPDA led 1-0 at interval but lashing rain forced referee Shafaat Habib to send both the teams to the tunnel. The match will be replayed at a later date.

Friday’s fixtures: Islamabad v Diya FC (5.30 PM, Jinnah Stadium), Sports Sciences v Azad Kashmir (5.30 PM, Ground No.2).

The league matches conclude on 31 July, followed by quarter-finals on 1, 2 August. -PPI

NEW DELHI: London 2012 Olympics chief Sebastian Coe said Thursday he was confident the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi would leave a lasting legacy in the Indian capital.

“Commonwealth Games is certainly not a side-show, but the world’s third-largest event,” said Coe, a former Olympic middle-distance champion.

“It’s a high-quality sporting competition with so much honour associated with it. I am sure the Games will leave a long-lasting legacy that people will remember throughout their lives.”

Coe is in India as part of a business and diplomatic delegation headed by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

“I am sure the people of Delhi will be watching the stars of tomorrow. Many stars are coming to the Delhi Games, such as Asafa Powell, who made his debut in this event,” he was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.

New Delhi is set to host the showpiece event from October 3-14, with thousands of labourers working round the clock to finish long-delayed sporting infrastructure.

London started its two-year countdown to the Games on Tuesday, with most venues and facilities near completion. – AFP

SINGAPORE: Spain’s La Liga said on Thursday it would launch a pre-season exhibition tournament in Asia next year to boost its profile in the region, where the English Premier League dominates.

Some matches will also have an earlier kick-off time in the upcoming season to encourage more football fans in Asia to watch the Spanish league, La Liga chief executive Francisco Roca Perez said in Singapore.

“Our objective is to be one of the prominent leagues in this part of the world, and I think because of the level of football that we play in the Spanish league, we ought to be,” he said at a sports forum.

Spain’s top professional football league lags in popularity behind the EPL in Asia, despite boasting the likes of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Real Madrid’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

But following Spain’s first World Cup triumph in South Africa earlier this month, there could be no better time to raise La Liga’s profile in the region, Perez said.

“We are one of the highest profile leagues in terms of the quality of players,” he said.

“The World Cup showed the level of quality of play.”

Perez admitted that La Liga had some catching up to do in Asia but insisted the Spanish league could win over new Asian fans with the right formula.

“Like I said before, our respect for the premier league is huge and our admiration for whatever the premier league has done is huge,” Perez said at the Soccerex Asian Forum.

“Obviously, if we change the television times, the kick-off time, this is essential. I recognise that, we understand that, we have to do it, otherwise it would be impossible to gain more fans in Asia,” he said.

Perez said at least one weekend game would be played at a “reasonably Asian-friendly time” when the new season begins next month.

In addition, La Liga’s pre-season International LFP Cup tournament will kick off its first edition in Asia between July and August next year.

It will comprise three top-flight Spanish clubs against a local team from the Asian country hosting the event.

However, reigning La Liga champion Barcelona and arch rival Real Madrid, the two Spanish clubs that Asian fans are most familiar with, will not feature in the LFP Cup for at least the next two years, Perez said.

“What we are trying to do with this is change a little bit the gears in the way the Spanish league is being promoted internationally,” he said.

“I say changing gears because much of the promotion of the Spanish league, international promotion of course, has been driven by the individual efforts of mostly FC Barcelona and Real Madrid and this has been extremely successful for us, but it’s not enough for us.” – AFP

LOS ANGELES: Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and India’s Rohan Bopanna outclassed Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski to reach the quarterfinal of the Farmers Classic ATP Championship in Los Angeles.
 
In a closely contested first set, Aisam and Rohan got two break points but were unable to convert them and eventually lost the set in a tie-break 6-7 (3).

The Indo-Pak duo, however, clawed back into the match in the second set with an improved performance. Impressive serving from both players and a more-than-90% serve return rate from Aisam helped them win the set 6-0.
 
In the final set against the top-ranked British pair, Aisam and Rohan kept up a tough fight and closed down the match with a 10-7 win.

They will now face Arnaud Clement and Jonathan Erlich in the quarterfinal.

SYDNEY: Australian men’s coach Ric Charlesworth said on Thursday it was “crazy and disrespectful” for New Delhi Commonwealth Games organisers to schedule field hockey matches during the heat of the day.

Charlesworth, who guided the Kookaburras to World Cup success in the Indian capital last March, is perturbed that his players will have all their four group matches during the day at the October 3-14 showpiece.

The coach said he was also frustrated at being restricted to selecting just 16 players, unlike at the World Cup and the Champions Trophy where teams can name 18-man squads.

“We will have to play in very hot weather with 16 players, it’s nuts and I find it extraordinary,” Charlesworth told Australian Associated Press.

“My experience (of New Delhi) has not been good. The grounds will be fine, but the problem is we will be playing in the middle of the day and that is unfair,” he said.

October is actually a peak period for tourism in New Delhi after the searing heat of high summer, with temperatures ranging from the low 20s Celsius to the low 30s.

Charlesworth insisted that heat would be a problem.

“Who knows how the people who organise these things think, it is OK if you are playing netball inside but not for our sport,” he said.

“They wouldn’t run the marathon in the middle of the day – it is crazy and disrespectful.

“We have had to make adjustments to our selection process for the Commonwealth Games because of the conditions and in my opinion that is wrong and it does a disservice to the game and the players.” – AFP

KARACHI: Pakistan’s boxing coach, Cuba's Francisco Hernandez Roldan, was left frustrated with the affairs of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) as water from the monsoon rains poured into the training area provided to him at the PSB Karachi Centre and eventually suspended practice.

“It is very difficult to practice here and it is also very dangerous for our boxers to play here in the slippery conditions. We work so hard on our boxers, spend so much time on them and if they get injured by something so unrelated to boxing then it would be highly frustrating for the boxer and for the training staff,” Hernandez said.

He further said that the people responsible for the smooth running of such affairs were incompetent and were causing a huge wastage of money through their actions.

“I told the federation I won’t practice in this wet place. But that is not the way out. Our pugilists need continuous training and any gap would not serve our purpose for the mega international events that are coming up,” he added.

Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) secretary Akram Khan said that they have told PSB Centre officials about the problem but they haven’t deputed any staff for removing the water from the area.

Chairman National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Sports Iqbal Mohammad Ali Khan also criticized officials of PSB Karachi Centre for their negligence.

“It is their duty to look after the center properly, especially when a national training camp is underway. The government spends so much money on national camps but due to negligence of a few people funds and efforts of others get wasted,” he said.

He added that if players are not provided with proper infrastructure then it is unjust to expect medals from them.

“Yesterday, when I visited the camp, it was submerged in the rain water while water was also dripping from the ceilings. It was a shame that the boys were practicing in such conditions. This is not fair with the players. We criticize them when they fail to win medals but we don’t even care to know what the reasons behind their failure were. I feel these problems are the main factors which differentiate our players from their international counterparts,” said the annoyed chairman. -PPI

LAHORE: Sindh lost their opening match 0-1 to Peshawar’s Frontier College in Group-C at Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad in the sixth National Women Football Championship.

The League matches will be concluded on 31 July, followed by the quarter-finals on 1 and 2 August. The semi-finals are scheduled for 4 August while the third-place match and final will be played on 5 August.

Underdogs Frontier College, stopped Sindh from attacking and scored the all important goal in the 44th minute through midfielder Salma.

The Sindh team, under the captaincy of Qurat ul Ain, sister of famous sprinter and SAG Gold Medallist Naseem Hameed, missed some major opportunities and had to blame themselves for the defeat.

Gohar Zaman’s Frontier had more possession and were able to create more opportunities, while the Sindh girls were not able to capitalize despite their superiority on paper and the match ended with the solitary goal win for the team from Peshawar.

Wednesday’s fixtures:

Diya v Punjab (5 PM, Jinnah Stadium)

Azad Kashmir v Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa (5.30 PM, Ground No.2 near Hamidi Hall) – PPI