LONDON -- Maria Sharapova will be eligible to return to competitive tennis in April after her two-year doping ban was reduced to 15 months on Tuesday by a sports court that found the Russian star bore no significant fault for her positive drug test and did not intend to cheat.The Court of Arbitration for Sport cut nine months off the suspension imposed on Sharapova, who tested positive for the banned heart medication meldonium at the Australian Open in January.Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player, appealed to CAS in June seeking to overturn or reduce the two-year penalty imposed by the International Tennis Federation.In a 28-page ruling , the CAS panel found that Sharapova bore some degree of fault but less than significant fault in the case that has sidelined one of the worlds most prominent and wealthy female athletes.The panel has determined, under the totality of the circumstances, that a sanction of 15 months is appropriate here given her degree of fault, the three-man arbitration body ruled.While Sharapova did commit a doping violation, under no circumstances ... can the player be considered to be an `intentional doper, the panel said.Sharapovas ban, which took effect on Jan. 26, was originally due to run until Jan. 25, 2018. Now she can return on April 26, 2017, a month ahead of the French Open, a Grand Slam tournament she has won twice.Ive gone from one of the toughest days of my career last March when I learned about my suspension to now, one of my happiest days, as I found out I can return to tennis in April, Sharapova said in a statement.In so many ways, I feel like something I love was taken away from me and it will feel really good to have it back, she added. Tennis is my passion and I have missed it. I am counting the days until I can return to the court.The doping suspension kept the 29-year-old Sharapova out of this years French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open, as well as the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She will also miss the 2017 Australian Open in January.Maria is absolutely one of the stars of the game, so shes missed when shes not available to play, WTA CEO Steve Simon told The Associated Press. Were very much looking forward to seeing her come back to the court next spring.Simon said Sharapova, who will have to rebuild her ranking from scratch, is entitled to unlimited wild cards based on her record. He expects her to be granted wild cards as soon as she is eligible, including for the French Open.I would be very surprised if there are too many tournaments that wouldnt extend her that opportunity, Simon said in a telephone interview. I think shell be able to work her way back onto the tour.Sharapova acknowledged taking meldonium before each match at last years Australian Open, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams. The ITF said she also tested positive for meldonium in an out-of-competition control in Moscow on Feb. 2.Sharapova said she was not aware that meldonium, also known as mildronate, had been included on the World Anti-Doping Agencys list of banned substances from Jan. 1, 2016.Sharapovas lawyer, John Haggerty, called Tuesdays ruling a stunning repudiation of the ITF, which he said failed to properly notify players of the meldonium ban.The panel has determined it does not agree with many of the conclusions of the ITF, Haggerty said in a conference call. As we demonstrated before CAS, not only did the tennis anti-doping authorities fail to properly warn Maria, if you compare what the ITF did with how other federations warned athletes of the rule change, its a night and day difference.WADA acknowledged that CAS fully scrutinized all available information and evidence in the case and said it abides by the ruling.Sharapova said she was first prescribed the Latvian-made drug by her family doctor for various medical issues in 2006. She said she took the drug for regular bouts of the flu, possible onset of diabetes and a magnesium deficiency.An independent ITF panel had found that Sharapova did not intend to cheat but bore sole responsibility and very significant fault for the positive test. The ITF panel also said the case inevitably led to the conclusion that she took the substance for the purpose of enhancing her performance.Meldonium increases blood flow, which improves exercise capacity by carrying more oxygen to the muscles.More than 100 athletes, including many Russians and other eastern Europeans, tested positive for meldonium early in the year. Some escaped with no sanctions because they argued successfully that they stopped taking the drug before Jan. 1 and that traces had lingered in their system. Sharapova, however, acknowledged that she used meldonium after Jan. 1.A hearing on Sharapovas appeal was held in New York on Sept. 7-8. The player and her legal team argued that she bore no significant fault or negligence and her ban should be reduced to time served, or about eight months.I have learned from this, and I hope the ITF has as well, Sharapova said. I have taken responsibility from the very beginning for not knowing that the over-the-counter supplement I had been taking for the last 10 years was no longer allowed.Head, Sharapovas racket supplier, hailed the CAS ruling as justice being served.We are very proud to have stood by Maria for the right reasons throughout these difficult and testing times, Head CEO Johan Eliasch said, claiming it was wholly unfair that that she had been banned at all.---AP Sports Writer Chris Lehourites contributed to this report.---Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/stevewilsonap. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wilson Cheap Air Max 90 Wholesale . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Discount Yeezy 350 v2 . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. http://www.cheapshoesstorewholesale.com/ . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Jordan Outlet Store Near Me . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No. Fake Air Max 90 For Sale . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. TORRANCE, Calif. -- Karch Kiraly knows a little something about bringing home Olympic gold. After all, hes done it three times, in the 1984, 1988 and 1996 Games.He was also the first player, male or female, to win Olympic gold in both indoor and outdoor volleyball. In short, Kiraly, 55, is one of the most decorated players in the sports history.Now, as head coach of the U.S. womens indoor volleyball team, he hopes to take Team USA to its first Olympic gold medal when the Rio Games start next week. In both 2008 and 2012, the team won silver -- and in 2012, Kiraly was an assistant coach for the squad.We caught up with him to find out how he switched his mindset from athlete to coach -- and get his best piece of advice for coaching Olympians.espnW: Youve been to the Olympic Games as an athlete. Whats it been like stepping into a coaching role for Team USA? Certainly I got some nice practice at it as assistant coach in London. I think theres a tendency in sports that people who have had a lot of success as players dont necessarily make the best coaches, the most effective teachers, the most effective leaders. So I know Im fighting against that and trying to break that norm.But the other thing I have going for me is that unlike many other coaches out there, Ive been on the Olympic court and know what thats like and all of the challenges that come along with that.I plan to leverage that and try to help our team perform at the level wed like to in Rio, which should be the most amazing Olympic Games for volleyball when you combine how popular both sides of the sport are in that country.Is there an experience you remember from being at the Olympics that you draw on when you are coaching? I dont know that there is a single experience, but certainly its a bigger tournament by virtue of the fact that lots of people get to see volleyball that otherwise dont get to see it the other three years, 11 months and two? weeks [between the Games].And also because teams have been striving to try to do something special. You only get one chance every four years, and if it doesnt go your way, youve got to work hard another four years. Its not like losing a Super Bowl and coming back the next year. In a sense, there are some unique challenges there, and its not just in volleyball: Its every sport att the Olympics.ddddddddddddpeaking to that a little bit, the stakes are so different when youre doing it every four years. How does it change how you approach things as an athlete and as a coach? We essentially work in four-year cycles because of the Olympics. People call them quads or quadrennia. There are big events each year that we focus on. Last year, it was the World Cup. Two years ago, it was the world championships. Those are major tournaments and in some ways tougher to win than the Olympics themselves and more challenging.But the Olympics is the tournament that gets a lot more attention in and outside our country. Its just a different beast and so we have to be able to approach it with a level of psychological flexibility. Theres gonna be a lot of adversity.Nobody wins a major tournament like that without overcoming gnarly adversity, and the team that does, wins. Thats a big a part of our preparation, is how to respond to the adversity that will inevitably happen at a tournament like the Olympics. It could be injuries, could be the bus tire gets a flat and we arrive three minutes before the start of a game. Could be things that we cant even imagine right now that are our response to is really whats important.What advice do you have for other coaches, at any level?I havent been coaching that long. Im pretty young, in coaching years. Ive really only been coaching since about 2007. I might be a little presumptuous to give anybody knowledge, but one thing that has helped me a lot is to approach it like, Every day, there are things to learn.You can become a lot better, as a player or as a coach, if you are a really dedicated learner, if you are what [author Carol Dweck] says in her book Mindset, in a growth mindset and embrace -- as hard as it sometimes is -- mistakes. If were not making any mistakes, were not learning fast enough. Were actually holding ourselves back if were not operating at the edge of our abilities.So you have to be willing to be OK with looking foolish sometimes, with making stupid mistakes, sometimes as a coach, as a head coach even. I think if I can be OK with that, I can be a better model for the rest of our program. ' ' '