RUNNER CAUTIOUS

Olympic 1500m track hopeful Nikki Hamblin has pulled out of a planned race in Shanghai this weekend as she continues to play it cautiously in her lead-in to London. Hamblin is working back to full fitness after having trouble with a bursa on the Achille’s tendon, and is hoping to confirm her selection for London via a managed build-up programme. The Kiwi runner has twice gone under the qualifying standard for London – both in July last year – and is required to ‘‘prove’’ her fitness before being formally nominated. Athletics NZ high performance director Scott Goodman is sure Hamblin will meet the selection criteria over coming weeks and said the decision to withdraw from a 1500m in Shanghai tonight had been more about not taking any risks. Meanwhile, Kiwi Zane Robertson missed the 1500m Olympic qualifying time by just over three seconds at a meet in Los Angeles yesterday.

KING BATTLES BRAVELY

New Zealand squash star Joelle King’s giant-killing run in the Allam British Open ended in the quarterfinals after a brave fight against world champion Nicol David. King won the first game at London’s O2 Arena but David overwhelmed the Kiwi, triumphing 8-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-0 in 45 minutes of highquality squash. King, seeded 12, drove the ball powerfully to keep David at the back of the court and punished any loose shots with some precision drops at the front. David meets No 3 seed Laura Massaro after the English crowd favourite came from behind to beat Camille Serme of France. Egyptians Raneem El Weleily and Nour El Sherbini will meet in the other semifinal.

RIDERS STRUGGLING

Andrew Nicholson is leading the New Zealand charge but it’s not a very strong one after the dressage phase at the Saumur three-star event in France. Nicholson and Quimbo are ninth in the field of 52 after posting a 69.2 dressage score for 46.2 penalties, and he’s also the next best of the Kiwis, with Viscount George, in 21st. Mark Todd and NZB Grass Valley are 24th with 52.6 penalties while Caroline Powell and Boston Two Tip are 25th with 53.2. Powell is also 43rd with Onwards and Upwards. Todd may be too far behind to realistically challenge for the title but the cross-country and showjumping phases are crucial, given he is attempting to qualify Grass Valley for the Olympics.

KIWIS CLOSE GAP

Kiwi sailors Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie are on the verge of completing a set of medals after closing to within one point of the lead with just the medal race remaining at the 470 world championships off Barcelona overnight. Aleh and Powrie, who won silver at the event in 2010 and bronze last year, were 12th and fifth in the two races to remain in third place but the two leading crews both had slip-ups, enabling the New Zealanders to close the gap from six points to just one. Heading into the final day (overnight) of the women’s Olympic dinghy class, Britain and the Netherlands both have 59 points, with the Kiwis on 60 and the fourth-placed French crew (63) also in contention. In the men’s championship, Paul Snow-hansen and Jason Saunders improved two spots to finish 22nd in the 95-strong men’s fleet, following a 21st and 20th from yesterday’s two races. Meanwhile, Dan Slater finished 16th at the Finn world championship in Falmouth, England, as his Olympic situation remains up in the air. Slater qualified New Zealand a spot at last year’s worlds in Perth when he finished 21st but that was not enough to persuade the selectors. A top-10 finish in England might have sealed the deal but 16th, which is on the cut mark for the New Zealand Olympic Committee’s overriding criteria that athletes must be top-16 material, could prompt debate. However, in his favour are two fifth-placed finishes at the World Cup regattas in Spain and France last month. Of the other Kiwis, Matt Coutts was 22nd and Rob Coutts is 59th in the