Maria Sharapova will face an anti-doping panel in London on Wednesday knowing she will not benefit from recent confusion surrounding the drug she tested positive for in January. Cheap Pirates Jerseys . The 29-year-old Russian stunned the tennis world in March when she announced she had failed a test for meldonium on January 26, the day she lost an Australian Open quarter-final to Serena Williams.The Latvian-made heart disease medication had only been added to the World Anti-Doping Agencys banned list on January 1 but had been on a watch list for over a year and all national anti-doping agencies were told in October that it would be banned. With use of meldonium widespread across Eastern Europe, Sharapovas case was the most high-profile in an avalanche of positives in the first four months of the year. As of early May, WADA said there had been 288 positive samples. Sharapova must face an anti-doping panel in London But in April, the agency was forced to make an embarrassingly climbdown when it admitted there was a lack of scientific certainty on how long it takes for the drug to be completely excreted.Early suggestions that it should be out of an athletes system within days gave way to fears it could be present in long-term users, in trace amounts, for weeks, if not months.This led WADA to issue new guidance, directing that samples collected before March 1 below a certain concentration of meldonium could be discarded, as the athlete might be able to prove they had stopped taking it in 2015.Last month, Belarusian doubles specialist Sergey Betov, who also tested positive at the Australian Open, was cleared by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on these grounds. Maria reveals failed drug test Maria Sharapova has announced she failed a drugs test during the Australian Open in January. This prompted speculation that five-time grand slam winner Sharapova could escape without punishment but both she and her lawyer John Haggerty had already admitted she had been taking it, on her doctors advice, throughout January.This was underlined by Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko last month, when he told the Russian news agency TASS that the concentration of meldonium in Sharapovas system was above the provisional limit.Sharapova, instead, must try to convince an ITF panel that the laundry list of health reasons that Haggerty referred to in March should qualify her for a backdated therapeutic use exemption (TUE). Sharapova poses with her trophy after winning Wimbledon in 2004 Whether this will be enough to see the worlds highest-earning female athlete avoid any ban at all is highly debatable, as all athletes sign up to the principle of strict liability and TUEs should be arranged, and independently verified, in advance.The maximum punishment available is four years but most anti-doping experts think a more likely ban is between six to 12 months, which would start from the date of her provisional suspension on March 12.That would mean even a ban at the lenient end of that range would see Sharapova miss the remaining grand slams this season, including Wimbledon, as well as the Rio Olympics. Also See: Modern French Open classics Watson out early in France Bencic, Wozniacki miss French Open Tennis on Sky Stitched Pirates Jerseys . An in-person hearing allows for Garbutt to be suspended for five games or longer as per the leagues Collective Bargaining Agreement. Garbutt delivered a high hit to Penner in the second period of Sundays game. Pirates Jerseys China . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/ . Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds made his longshot request of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld Bonds conviction in September.SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Rachel Homan has confidence, home ice and hammer heading into Sundays final at the Ford Womens World Curling Championship. She intends to turn those assets into gold. Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Alison Kreviazuk and lead Lisa Weagle out of the Ottawa Curling Club will start the championship game against Switzerlands Binia Feltscher with last-rock advantage. Its Canadas reward for their 10-1 record to win the preliminary round and their 8-3 playoff win Friday over the Swiss. None of the other 11 countries at Saint Johns Harbour Station were as effective at scoring more than one point with hammer as Canada, so having it in the first end is an advantage. "Its huge," Homan said. "If you play your game properly, you can control the game." Canada last won a womens world curling title in 2008, when Winnipegs Jennifer Jones claimed it in Vernon, B.C. The wait hasnt been as long for Switzerland, as Mirjam Ott took the title two years ago in Lethbridge, Alta. With spectacular runbacks and raise takeouts, the Canadians drained Switzerlands offence Friday to win the playoff between the tournaments top two teams. That provided the host country a direct route to the gold-medal game, while Switzerland needed a 7-3 win over South Korea in Saturdays semifinal to gain a rematch. Russias Anna Sidorova and South Koreas Ji-sun Kim will play for bronze Sunday in what will be a first womens world curling medal for one of the countries. Homans team had Saturday off, so the skip watched the game in her hotel room and conducted interviews by phone in a raspy voice. "The rest will be good for me," Homan said. "Im glad the final is not today. "Its been a long week and we all need a bit of rest, so were glad that we put in the work and played really well and were able to get this bonus day off. We have some confidence we can take over into the final." Feltscher, 35, won an Olympic silver medal in 2006 playing third for Ott, but Sundays final will be the biggest game of her career as a skip. Third Irene Schori, second Franziska Kaufmann and Lead Christine Urech made their world championship debut in Saint John, so a 9-2 rround-robin record and a berth in the final is a surprise. Custom Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys. "Weve got nothing to lose tomorrow," Feltscher said via an interpreter. "It would be a great pleasure for us to put that gold medal around our necks." Switzerland was the only country to beat Canada in the round robin. Down 8-4, Homan shook hands after eight ends. Canadian Al Moore, husband of television curling commentator Linda Moore, is one of Switzerlands coaches. "I dont think their expectations were particularly high coming in," Moore said. "My goal coming in was to be in the playoffs. I really thought they could do that. The gold-medal game is a bonus." "They believe they can win. They believe if they go out and play their best, they believe they can win and really thats the difference." Jones and Brad Jacobs gave Canada double curling gold at the Winter Olympics in Sochi last month, with Jones going undefeated en route to the top step of the podium. Homan is on the verge of making it a dominant season for Canadian womens curling. "We have pressure on ourselves as well," Homan said. "You want that gold when it comes down to it. "Seeing Jones and (Brad) Jacobs bring home the gold from the Olympics, I really want to make it a clean sweep for Canada and make sure weve got gold everywhere." The average age of Homan and her teammates is just under 26, but they have big-game experience. Theyve won back-to-back Canadian titles, took bronze in their world championship debut last year in Riga, Latvia, and made it as far as the semifinal in Decembers Olympic trials. Homan was a shot away from making the final last year in Riga, but she missed a double takeout with her last throw of the semifinal to give up a steal and lose 8-7 to Scotland. The travel, time zone and arena were kinder to Homan this time. "Youre going to feel nervous and that comes with the territory and that comes with the sport," Homan said. "We love playing with the pressure and the home crowd. "A little bit different than Latvia. We had about five fans cheering us on. Theres a lot more energy this time around." ' ' '