the times | Thursday January 13 2022 2GM 71
Sport
Murray into
last eight after
three-hour
dogfight
Andy Murray continued preparations
for his Australian Open return by
demonstrating his ability to win a long,
hard-fought contest in beating Nikoloz
Basilashvili after three hours on court
in the second round of the Sydney
Tennis Classic.
This was a much stiffer examination
than his first-round win against the
world No 345, Viktor Durasovic, on
Tuesday, with the three-times grand-
slam champion progressing 6-7 (4-7),
7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in a match that featured
plenty of twists and turns and should
prepare him well for playing in the first
grand-slam tournament of the year.
The match did not look like it
would take so long when Murray raced
into a 4-1 lead after half an hour. He led
5-2 and served for the opening set but
Basilashvili, the world No 23, battled
back to go 6-5 ahead, forcing Mur-
ray to serve to stay in the
set. The 34-year-old did
so, but lost the tie-break as
he crashed a backhand
into the net.
The second set went
with serve until Murray
again got the first
break to take a 3-2
lead. He held serve
to make it 4-2
before squander-
ing his opportuni-
ty to serve for the
set and Basilash-
vili levelled.
Murray had toOkagbare is charged with
using two banned drugsserve to stay in the match at 6-5 down
before levelling things up in the tie-
break. The former world No 1 again
broke first in the deciding set to lead 3-0,
and the match remained on serve until
Murray served it out.
Murray joins his compatriot Dan
Evans in the quarter-finals after Evans
cruised to a straight-sets victory over
Spain’s Pedro Martínez. The British
third seed dominated his 61st-ranked
opponent en route to a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
Evans converted all four of his break-
point opportunities and made only
eight unforced
errors, continuing
his strong form.
He will face Dus-
an Lajovic or
Maxime Cressy.Murray and
Evans, left, both
advanced to the
quarter-finals
in SydneySHUTTERSTOCK/REX FEATURESLehmann’s Superchargers
exit solves ECB headache
Cricket
Martyn Ziegler Chief Sports ReporterDarren Lehmann has resigned as the
head coach of Northern Superchargers
after only one season with the Hundred
franchise based at Headingley, with
his announcement solving a public
relations headache for the ECB.
The 51-year-old’s position had come
under scrutiny after the Yorkshire
racism scandal, given that he was
banned for five one-day internationals
in 2003 for using racially abusive lan-
guage after his dismissal in a game
against Sri Lanka.
The ECB statement announcing
Lehmann’s departure made no refer-
ence to that, with the former Australiabatsman citing uncertainty around
travel and quarantine restrictions as a
factor in his decision. His position was
uncomfortable for the ECB, given that
its decision in November to suspend
Headingley’s right to host international
and major matches extends to knock-
out fixtures in the Hundred. The ECB
and Yorkshire are also braced for a
report into the scandal by the digital,
culture, media and sport select com-
mittee, due to be published tomorrow.
Heather Jackson, who chairs the
Northern Superchargers, said that
Marcus North, the director of cricket at
Durham, will take on the “lead cricket
responsibilities” and will work with the
general manager, Andy Dawson, to
appoint a new men’s head coach.Man charged with
supplying drugs to
Olympic athletes
Athletics
Matt Lawton
Chief Sports Correspondent
Prosecutors in the United States have
charged a man with supplying perform-
ance-enhancing drugs to athletes at the
Tokyo Olympics.
The Nigerian sprinter Blessing
Okagbare, 33, was withdrawn after the
first round of the women’s 100m in
Japan after a sample she provided
before the Games was found to contain
human growth hormone. She shares
the same Florida-based coach as Adam
Gemili, the 28-year-old British sprinter.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing
by either the coach or Gemili.
Eric Lira, 41, is the first person to be
charged under the Rodchenkov Act,
the new federal anti-doping law in
America. In a text exchange with Lira,
Okagbare allegedly said: “Whatever
you did, is working so well.”
After the Games, the Athletics Integ-
rity Unit (AIU) revealed that Okagbare
had also tested positive for the blood-
boosting drug EPO, charging her with
the alleged use of two banned drugs as
well as a refusal to co-operate with anti-
doping investigators.
In October, The Times revealed
the likely involvement of US law
enforcement agencies alongside
the United States Anti-Doping
Agency (Usada) in the investi-
gation. Yesterday, Lira was
charged under the Rodchen-
kov Act, which was passed in
2020 and named after the Rus-
sian whistleblower Grigory
Rodchenkov, which is designed
to govern international sports
competitions.
He has been charged with
providing performance-
enhancing drugs to athletes,
as part of an investigation
that is understood to have
started with Usada but
expanded when the agency
collaborated with the AIU and
the FBI.
One source told The Times
last night that this was
merely the beginning of an
investigation that could
develop into a huge dopingscandal. The US Attorney said that Lira
had distributed the drugs, including
human growth hormone and EPO, “for
the purpose of cheating” at the 2020
Olympics. He has also been accused of
conspiring to violate drug misbranding
and adulteration laws, with drugs from
Central and South America “misbrand-
ed” before being supplied to athletes.
A release from the US Attorney’s
Office detailed communication about
dosages between Okagbare, referred to
as “Athlete-1”, and Lira, a “naturopath-
ic” therapist from El Paso, Texas.
Okagbare explains the significant im-
pact of the drugs on her performances.
Although the criminal complaint
does not name Okagbare, the release
contains details that point directly to
the 33-year-old former Commonwealth
champion. Athlete-1 reports back to
Lira, having taken the drugs, that she
had run 10.63sec with a +2.7m/s wind on
“Friday” June 18. It was on that day that
Okagbare ran what was then the joint-
second-fastest time in history, albeit
wind-assisted, in the Nigerian trials in
Lagos in those conditions.
The complaint suggests the author-
ities seized Okagbare’s mobile phone
on her return to the US and found she
had been allegedly communicating
with Lira, who faces up to ten years
in jail, using an encrypted app.
On June 13, 2021, “Athlete-1” alle-
gedly wrote to Lira: “So I took
2000ui [international units] of
the E [erythropoietin] yester-
day, is it safe to take a test this
morning?”
Lira allegedly replied:
“Good day [Athlete-1]...
2000ui is a low dosage.”
Athlete-1 allegedly replied:
“Remember I took it Wednes-
day and yesterday again. I
wasn’t sure so I didn’t take a
test. I just let them go so it
will be a missed test.”
On or about June 22, 2021,
Athlete-1 allegedly wrote to
Lira: “Hola amigo. Eric my
body feel so good. I just
ran 10.63 in the 100m
on Friday with a 2.7
wind. I am so happy.
Whatever you did, is
working so well.”
Lira replied allegedly by saying it
meant she was “ready to dominate”
in Tokyo.