■Tennis
Pistolesi marches on
Defending champion Anna Pistolesi of Israel on Tuesday eased through to the second round of the US$170,000 Wien Energie Grand Prix WTA tennis tournament, defeating Austrias Barbara Schett in straight sets. Pistolesi, who made tennis history crowning herself the highest ever ranked Israeli professional tennis player last season, dominated local heroine Schett right from the start and won 6-1,6-2.
Pistolesi, who won the Vienna tournament under her maiden name Smashnova last year before marrying former Italian tennis player Claudio Pistolesi, capitalized on Schett's frequent unforced errors. The Austrian suffered more from the intense heat, and her game dropped rapidly the longer the match went on.
■ Soccer
Gazza to stay in China
Former England international Paul Gascoigne will remain at Chinese B-League team Gansu Tianma despite returning late from a holiday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. "Gazza's [Gascoigne's] agent has contacted him on Monday after receiving the club's call," Tianma general manager Zhang Tongpo told Xinhua. "We were told that Gazza has no intention to leave the club. He is certain to come back." The 36-year-old, who signed into a clinic in Arizona in April after suffering from depression, signed a one-year renewable contract with Gansu Tianma as player-coach in January. Gascoigne won 57 caps for his country and helped England reach the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup. His career has been affected by injuries, a volatile temper and sporadic bouts of heavy drinking.
■ Rugby Union
Heenan bids for debut
Queensland state 21-year-old Daniel Heenan is expected to make his test rugby union debut after being named on the Australian bench for Saturday's match against Wales in Sydney. Phil Waugh will replace George Smith at openside flanker after Smith was ruled out for two weeks with nerve damage in his neck and shoulder. In the only other change yesterday from the side which beat Ireland last Saturday, burly backrower Heenan, 21, beat Reds teammate David Croft for the vacant bench spot.
■ Olympics
Afghanistan set to return
A senior International Olympic Committee official said yesterday he was confident that Afghanistan, banned from the Olympics since 1999, would be reinstated and allowed to participate in the 2004 games. Pere Miro, the IOC's director of relations with some 200 national Olympic committees worldwide, spoke during a four-day visit to Kabul, where he assessed the development of sports to prepare a report for the IOC. "I am sure that if the sanctions are lifted, and I am very confident about that, I am absolutely sure that Afghanistan will be present in the Olympic games in Athens next year," Miro said. Afghanistan last sent athletes to an Olympics in 1996, when three dozen traveled to Atlanta.
■ Motor racing
F1 eyes league system
FIA president Max Mosley called for a demotion system similar to soccer for Formula One racing in an interview with a German trade magazine released on Tuesday. The president of Formula One's governing body said he envisioned a return of a "Formula 2" racing circuit instead of the four different tours racing at levels under Formula One. "I can imagine a system like soccer. The best Formula 2 team climbs into Formula One, the worst team there drops into Formula 2," Mosley told Auto, Motor und Sport.
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