I’m the greatest, & I’m also retired: Fury

LONDON: Tyson Fury’s boxing career could be over after the reigning IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight champion announced his retirement in a profanity-filled tweet.

The post came almost two weeks after Fury called off his world heavyweight title rematch against Wladimir Klitschko for a second time. The official reason given then was that Fury was “medically unfit.” The British fighter had earlier been charged by the U.K. Anti-Doping agency over a positive test. Fury, who didn’t deny fresh reports last week about drug use, tweeted Monday: “Boxing is the saddest thing I ever took part in, all a pile of (expletive), I’m the greatest, & I’m also retired.” The post ended with another obscenity. PAES, BOPANNA OUT

BEIJING: Indian doubles specialists Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna bowed out of the China Open tennis tournament here on Monday getting beaten in their respective men’s double first round matches. Bopanna and his Canadian partner Daniel Nestor were beaten by Spanish duo Rafael Nadal and Pablo Carreno 6-7, 4-6 while Paes and Germany’s Andre Begemann lost to American-Australian duo of Jack Sock and Bernard Tomic 6-3, 5-7, 7-10. RULING ON SHARAPOVA

LONDON: The verdict in Maria Sharapova’s appeal against a two-year doping ban will be announced Tuesday. The Court of Arbitration for Sport says it will issue the decision at 3 PM local time (6:30pm IST). Sharapova challenged an International Tennis Federation ban imposed after she tested positive at the Australian Open for meldonium. ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE

Long term development plan was one of the key points suggested during the round table conference, chaired by sports minister Vijay Goel, to improve India’s medal tally in future Olympics. Among those present at the meeting was athletics legend PT Usha and national badminton Pullela Gopichand.

NEW DELHI: