Motor Sport: Debt-ridden Greece is to spend €28.9 million on a Formula One racetrack despite the nation’s economic crisis, the development ministry said yesterday. The funds, which will subsidise about one-third of the 94-million-euro project, were released as part of a government effort to speed up investments that it considers top priorities but that have been delayed by bureaucratic procedures.

Cricket: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni faced calls to quit yesterday after his team’s exit from the World Twenty20, with pundits lining up to condemn his tactics as well as the misfiring top order. “Every captain’s term has a shelf life and after five years at the helm, Dhoni’s seems to have come to an end,” said the Mail Today in a blistering review of his “mind-boggling decision-making” during Tuesday’s game with South Africa. Although India scraped a one-run victory over the Proteas in Colombo, they fell well short of the run rate required to reach the semi-finals.

Swimming: Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu (picture), considered by many as a potential star in the future, lived up to her billing when she won three golds and a bronze on the opening night of the FINA World Cup 2012 series opener. Hosszu, in her debut season as a professional swimmer, started the evening’s medal session with a win in the 800m freestyle, and went on to win the 200m freestyle and the 200m individual medley, as well as a third place in the 200m backstroke to pocket $5,000 for the night ($1,500 for each win and $500 for the bronze).

Golf: Ryder Cup-winning captain Jose Maria Olazabal said he would not lead Europe into the next edition in 2014, after steering the team to a famous victory last weekend. The Spaniard said the tension made it “torture” skippering the side that came back from 10-4 down to pull off an astonishing win by 14.5 points to 13.5 at Medinah in Illinois. “I won’t do it again. I can assure you that’s going to be a no, period,” he said. “(Being captain) is difficult; in a way it’s torture.” The 46-year-old named Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn as well as Paul Lawrie, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington as viable contenders.

Handball: France faced calls yesterday to crack down on sports betting, as the world’s biggest handball star was charged with fraud in a high-profile match-fixing probe. France’s double Olympic and world champion Nikola Karabatic, of the Montpellier club, and three other professional players were among 11 people charged after suspicious betting patterns at one of the club’s matches last May. Among those also under the spotlight was Karabatic’s brother, Luka, and their girl-friends. Neither of the brothers played in the match under investigation and Mont-pellier had already won the league.

Athletics: Two Jamaican athletes, including 4x400 metres relay pool member Dominique Blake, are facing disciplinary action after testing positive for doping. A preliminary hearing began in Kingston yesterday for Blake and national 800 metres champion Ricardo Cunningham over doping violations returned by the pair at Jamaica’s Senior Championships in June. Cunningham, who trains with the MVP track Club in Jamaica, appeared in person at the hearing while Blake, who previously served a nine-month ban, sent a representative. They are due to re-appear on October 17.

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