Sports round-up

Cricket: Organisers for the 2011 Cham-pions League Twenty20 have revealed plans for a six-team qualifying event ahead of the main tournament later this year. Teams from India, West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England will be invited to participate in the round-robin event, from which three will go on to compete in the 10-team CLT20. The restructure means more teams than ever before will be given the chance to compete for T20’s biggest prize of $2.5 million.

Badminton: Badminton officials said world number two Lin Dan was unlikely to face further action after he controversially pulled out of the Singapore Open final citing illness, angering suspicious fans. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said there was no evidence “Super Dan” faked the bout of gastric flu which prompted his late withdrawal from the men’s singles decider against Chinese team-mate Chen Jin. Fans booed loudly and some stormed out of Singapore Indoor Arena after Lin ap-peared on court to announce his pull-out, which follows a string of similar incidents involving all-Chinese matches.

Olympics: British athletes who took part in the 1948 Olympics are to be given free tickets to the London 2012 Games. Around 125 people who represented Britain at the Games in London just after the Second World War are believed to be eligible to the pair of free tickets from the British Olympic Association (BOA). The BOA say where possible the tickets will be matched to the sport in which the Olympian competed 64 years before. Meanwhile, all former Team GB Olympians from previous Games will have the chance to buy four tickets. There are also plans for a series of special events for the 1948 Olympians, including a celebratory lunch, a tour of the Olympic Village and the chance to take part in the torch relay.