Oz Olympians face ban for missing drug tests

Sydney
Olympics silver medallist Madeline Groves and two other Australian Olympic swimmers are facing possible two-year bans for missing drug tests, reports said today. Groves, two-time Olympian Thomas Fraser-Holmes and Rio Olympics open water swimmer Jarrod Poort missed three drug tests in a 12-month period, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Swimming Australia said it was informed by the Australian Sport Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and the sport’s world governing body FINA that some team members may have failed to update their whereabouts. 

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New Delhi
USA seal spot for FIFA U-17 World Cup 
The United States joined Costa Rica, Honduras and Mexico in qualifying for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be held in India later this year following their latest action at the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Panama City. The US beat Cuba 6-2 in their classification stage group match and sealed a berth in continental final after finishing top of their group. Fifteen countries have now qualified for the October 6-28 World Cup. Iran, Iraq, Japan, North Korea, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, New Zealand and New Caledonia had qualified earlier. The qualifying tournament for Europe is underway (May 3- 19) in Croatia.

Chennai
Vikram Malhotra wins 5th PSA squash title 
India’s Vikram Malhotra won his fifth PSA title after beating Egypt’s Youssef Ibrahim in the final of the Abu Dhabi Open. The US-based Indian won 6-11 11-4 11-3 9-11 13-11. In the semifinals, he had beaten Pakistan’s Khwaja Adil Maqbool.

Los Angeles
US Olympics champion bobsledder Holcomb dies 
Olympics gold medal-winning bobsledder Steven Holcomb was found dead in his room at the US Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York, the US Olympic Committee said. The USOC said no further details on the circumstances of Holcomb’s death were immediately available. Holcomb, who was 37, competed for USA in three Winter Games, making history at Vancouver 2010 when he piloted the US four-man bobsled team to the gold medal. It marked the first US gold in the event since 1948. At Sochi in 2014, he went on to win bronze medals. — Agencies