Hamburg  - A decision by Germany's umbrella sports organization and Olympic Committee DOSB to allow five former East German athletics coaches to continue on their jobs despite doping confessions drew harsh reactions from victims and others on Tuesday.

The five coaches - Klaus Baarck, Gerhard Boettcher, Rainer Pottel, Maria Ritschel and Klaus Schneider - on Monday admitted in a statement issued by the DOSB to their involvement in the state-run doping system of the former communist state.

Vienna  - Lisa Huetthaler, a key witness in Austria's ongoing doping scandal, announced Tuesday that she ended her thriathlon career, some five months before her ban would have expired in September.

"My doping past and its emotional and physical consequences have taken an extreme toll on me," 25-year-old Huetthaler said in a statement quoted by Austrian press agency APA.

The 2007 national champion made headlines in late March when she publicly accused the former sports manager Stefan Matschiner of having supplied her with the blood booster EPO.

Ljubljana - Slovenian steeplechase champion Bostjan Buc on Tuesday dismissed media reports which mentioned him in connection doping scheme exposed in Austria.

"I have no idea why I was brought into this context," Buc, 28, sauid in a telephone interview with the German Press Agency dpa in Ljubljana.

On Monday, news reports had alleged that Buc was part of the scheme exposed in Austria around sports manager Stefan Matschiner, with the Delo daily saying: "The wave (of doping) washed over the Alps (into Slovenia)."

Wellington, Apr. 7 : Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today praised his squad for gelling together to effect a series triumph in New Zealand after 41 years, and added that it had set a benchmark for future Indian teams to achieve.

"It''s a fantastic atmosphere [in the dressing room], can''t get better. We have set the benchmark. Next time when we come to New Zealand, people expect you to win. You have achieved something that''s big, but the tough part is to maintain it, to sustain it. It never gets easy for a cricketer," said Dhoni.

Wellington, Apr. 7 : New Zealand cricket selectors have taken a gamble by selecting injury-prone all rounder Jacob Oram in their Twenty20 World Cup squad today.

Oram played no part in the three-test series against India because of an Achilles tendon strain. He is currently playing for Central Districts in the State Championship final against Auckland at Christchurch.

The fickle English climate had presented a challenge in selecting the side.

Leh, Apr 7 : In a rare honour, the Indian Ice Hockey team was felicitated on its return from Abu Dhabi (UAE), where it participated in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Challenge Cup of Asia.

Ajit Kumar Sahu, Deputy Commissioner, Leh in Jammu and Kashmir did the honours.

This was the first time that the ice hockey team led by Tundup Namgyal had gone abroad to participate in an event of such a scale.