Athletics doping scandal: Blood experts criticise IAAF claims

The IAAF has been accused of trying to "muddy the waters" in the ongoing investigation into doping in athletics, by an expert involved in the case.

The world governing body defended its conduct after it was implicated in the World Anti-Doping Agency's (Wada) commission into the allegations.

Michael Ashenden was one of two experts enlisted by the Sunday Times to analyse leaked data belonging to the IAAF.

He said the IAAF's 38-page statement on Friday was "deliberately bloated".

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In the statement, the federation insisted it had used "every tool available to it to catch blood dopers in athletics and with considerable success".

British marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe, who claimed she had been implicated by a parliamentary hearing, was declared "entirely innocent" by the IAAF and the UK Anti-Doping Agency after what the IAAF called a "gross misinterpretation of raw and incomplete data".

The IAAF said documents showed that it had "consistently been a pioneer" in the war against doping and sought to demonstrate that it had been rigorous in its testing and use of the blood data it held.

But Ashenden responded: "Faced with the life-threatening blood values which they knew existed amongst their athletes, I say they should have tried to push the legal envelope.

Australian Open: Jordan Spieth three off the lead in Sydney

World number one Jordan Spieth cut Matthew Jones' lead in the Australian Open to three shots going into Sunday's final round in Sydney.

American Spieth, 22, shot a four-under-par 67 to move seven under for the tournament and into second place.

Overnight leader Jones, from Australia, carded a second successive 68 to move to 10 under overall.

Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke trails Jones by nine strokes after a one-under-par 67 left him tied for seventh.

The European Ryder Cup captain is joined on one under by Australian Adam Scott, who recovered from a 73 on Friday to shoot 68, including an eagle on the 18th. The 36-year-old former world number one is trying to avoid finishing winless for the first season in his professional career.

It was a disappointing day for England's Lee Westwood, however, as he carded his worst round of the tournament - a four-over 75 to leave him tied for 35th on four over.

While the day ended well for Spieth, he first endured a rollercoaster front nine that included four bogeys - three of them in the first four holes - and three birdies.

However, three birdies and an eagle - at the 17th - in his back nine kept this year's double major winner in contention.

"I made a couple of bad swings and a couple of bad decisions," said Spieth. "Not many pars.

"It was one of the great fightbacks I've had. I fought hard."

Nico Rosberg beat Lewis Hamilton to Abu Dhabi pole

Nico Rosberg out-qualified Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton for the sixth race in a row to seal pole for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

He beat Hamilton by a substantial 0.377 seconds after a qualifying session that see-sawed between the two.

Rosberg was quicker on the first runs in the top 10 shoot-out, Hamilton beat his time by 0.124secs with his final lap, only for Rosberg to top it.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen beat Force India's Sergio Perez to third place.

Raikkonen's team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, will start 16th after Ferrari miscalculated the lap time he needed to progress beyond the first knock-out session.

Rosberg's stunning final lap

Hamilton had been determined on arriving in Abu Dhabi to try to end Rosberg's impressive run of poles, which stems back to the Japanese Grand Prix in late September.

But in the end his team-mate was too strong, producing a stunning final lap to continue his resurgence following the disappointment of Hamilton winning the title in the US Grand Prix last month with three races still to go.

Despite the championship being over, the two have been playing mind games with each other as they seek a psychological edge going into the winter and preparations for the 2016 season.

Hamilton has talked of a change to the Mercedes car altering its feel, and reducing his confidence in it, following the team's struggles at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Rosberg has spoken this weekend about his higher-mileage engine giving him a disadvantage.

The team have played down the significance of both.

Andy Murray set for Rafael Nadal showdown at World Tour finals

Andy Murray can move within sight of a semi-final place with victory over Rafael Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday.

The pair will meet in their second group match at 14:00 GMT, with the contest live on BBC TV and radio.

Murray will qualify for the last four if he beats Nadal and the evening match sees any result other than a straight-set win for Stan Wawrinka.

A victory would also guarantee Murray the year-end number two ranking.

"It would be obviously nice to finish number two because I haven't done it before, but it's not a goal that I'd set for myself at the beginning of this year or throughout the whole year really," said the Briton.

European Tour: Pelley promises prize money and 'players first'

A whirlwind is blowing through the European Tour in the shape of its new boss Keith Pelley.

The 51-year-old Canadian has been in charge for three months since succeeding George O'Grady and is intent on radical changes, with the aim of making the tour a "viable alternative to the PGA Tour".

Pelley spoke at length publicly for the first time before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, his energy and ambition more than evident as he addressed the assembled media.

Mitchell Johnson: Fear & brilliance of retiring Australia fast bowler

Mitchell Johnson's cricketing career might be remembered for several stellar achievements.

For 313 Test wickets at a strike rate better than Shane Warne or Glenn McGrath, for defining one Ashes series with his misery and another with his brilliance, for reviving both flat-out fast bowling and the handlebar moustache that once characterised its greatest exponents.

You might remember him for that song; not since Paul McCartney released the Frog Chorus had a simple tune wrecked a reputation so effectively. You might remember him for the remarkable renaissance that followed, one of the great redemptive stories in any sport.

Lewis Hamilton & Rosberg should race in Abu Dhabi - Coulthard

Mercedes have done an admirable job of handling Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as fairly as possible during the course of two occasionally fractious Formula 1 seasons.

They have done so by running race strategy in such a way that reduces the chances of intra-team friction while giving each driver as much of a chance as possible to win the race.

As a team, that is exactly the right thing to do - maximise the collective result while also allowing the drivers to race freely, within certain parameters set by the team.

However, for the outside world, it can often lead to grands prix like that in Brazil last Sunday, where the drivers' ability to race and take risks in an attempt to beat their rival is compromised by the team's requirement to stick to a pre-determined strategy.

With one race of the season to go, though, wouldn't it be cool if Mercedes - now they have nothing to lose and both championships are tied up - just let their drivers and their respective engineers off the leash and ran a gloves-off race in Abu Dhabi next weekend?