■ RUGBY UNION
Bergamasco apologizes
Italy flanker Mauro Bergamasco has apologized for the eye-gouging incident in the 47-8 defeat by Wales on Feb. 23 that cost him a 13-week ban. Bergamasco was found guilty by a Six Nations disciplinary commission on Wednesday of deliberately placing his finger in the eye of Wales fullback Lee Byrne and was suspended until June 2. He will miss the rest of the tournament. "I apologize to the person concerned, Lee Byrne, to my fans, my teammates, my club Stade Francais and the Italian Rugby Federation," the 28-year-old said on his Web site. "I realize that what happened does not reflect the values and principles of rugby and of sport in general. I'd like to say that I did not want to cause any damage with the gesture I committed, even though it was serious."
■ CRICKET
Elliott gets Black Cap call
Uncapped South African-born allrounder Grant Elliott was named in a 13-man New Zealand cricket squad for the first of three Tests against England starting at Hamilton on Wednesday. Elliott, 28, is a right-hand middle order batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler who was born in Johannesburg and played at under-19 level for South Africa. His selection yesterday came largely at the expense of Peter Fulton, who has been dropped from the New Zealand squad after an extended period of poor form. Jamie How was named to partner Matthew Bell at the top of the New Zealand order, replacing Craig Cumming, and Ross Taylor returns to the Test squad after missing New Zealand's most recent series against Bangladesh. Iain O'Brien was named as the squad's third seam bowler.
■ SOCCER
Chelsea ban Greek names
Chelsea has banned supporters with Greek names from buying home tickets for Wednesday's Champions League match against Olympiakos. "Nonmembers of a Greek nationality buying tickets for the Olympiakos game will have their orders canceled," the Chelsea Web site said on Friday. Chelsea fan Peter Pakos paid £100 (US$199) for two tickets for the second-round match at Stamford Bridge via the club's official Web site, but was later sent an e-mail canceling the order. "It's incredible discrimination," Pakos said. "It's shortsighted and clumsy. We may have a Greek background, but we're Chelsea fans through and through." Chelsea said large numbers of Olympiakos fans were trying to buy tickets in the area reserved for Blues supporters. "Chelsea Football Club has discretion to put measures in place to ensure segregation," a London Metropolitan police force spokesman said.
■ SOCCER
Berlin defeat Duisburg
Goals by Marko Pantelic and Raffael lifted Hertha Berlin to a 2-0 win and dumped MSV Duisburg into last place in the Bundesliga on Friday. The two forwards set up each other with Raffael scoring in the 34th minute and Pantelic in the 37th minute as Berlin ran their unbeaten streak to four games in pouring rain. Duisburg dropped into the cellar -- at least until yesterday's matches. Berlin put on one of its best attacking games of the season in pouring rain in front of 32,382 spectators at Olympic Stadium. Raffael, a forward Favre demanded from management, recorded his third goal in five games since joining Berlin from FC Zurich. His header ricocheted off the crossbar to Pantelic, whose pass to him left him clear for a shot inside the left post. Duisburg were still reeling when Raffael passed to Pantelic, who scored his 10th goal and helped his case for a contract extension.
■ TENNIS
Luzzi banned for betting
Italy's world No. 139 Federico Luzzi on Friday became the latest player to be banned for betting on matches after being found guilty of gambling on 836 matches, the ATP announced. The 28-year-old, who plays mostly on the Challenger circuit, was suspended for 200 days and fined US$50,000, a huge amount for a journeyman competitor who has earned just over US$500,000 during his nine years on tour. The ATP found no evidence of any attempt by Luzzi to affect the outcome of any tennis match. Luzzi is the fifth Italian player to be hit with a betting suspension. In December, Potito Starace was suspended for six weeks and fined US$30,000 while Daniele Bracciali was banned for three months and fined US$20,000. Alessio Di Mauro was banned for nine months in November for betting on matches while last month Giorgio Galimberti, the world 1010, was banned for 100 days.
■ TENNIS
Nalbandian makes final
Top-seeded David Nalbandian defeated former champion Luis Horna 7-5, 6-1 at the Abierto Mexicano to reach his second final in as many weeks on Friday. In the final, Nalbandian will play sixth-seeded Nicolas Almagro, who prevented a repeat of last Sunday's Buenos Aires final by edging unseeded Jose Acasuso of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Also, women's top seed Flavia Pennetta advanced to her fifth consecutive final in Acapulco, where she'll meet No. 2-seed Alize Cornet. Nalbandian, who won in Buenos Aires before home fans last weekend, has won 10 straight matches.
■ TENNIS
Lucky loser eyes title
Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic took seven match points to beat fellow Croatian Mario Ancic 7-6 (2), 6-4 and reach his third consecutive Zagreb Indoors final on Friday. In the other semi-final, 209th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine defeated Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-4, 6-4 to became the first lucky loser from qualifying to make an ATP final since Sweden's Nicklas Kulti at 1999 Halle. Stakhovsky slotted into the main draw after Michael Llodra, last week's Rotterdam winner, withdrew. "It's like a dream," Stakhovsky said, adding he will send a text message to Llodra to thank him for withdrawing. Ljubicic, ranked 25th, will be playing for his ninth career title. Stakhovsky will play in his first final. The last time a lucky loser won an ATP title was 1991 in Sao Paulo by Christian Miniussi of Argentina.
■ Golf
Ochoa extends lead
World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa stretched her lead to eight shots with a three-under-par 69 in the third round of the US$2 million HSBC Women's Champions tournament in Singapore yesterday. The Mexican delivered her least convincing performance of the week with a clutch of wayward tee shots and an embarrassing two-foot putt for par at the 17th that rolled four feet past, but her supreme scrambling skills kept her rivals at bay. With Ochoa the runaway leader on 16 under par, American Paula Creamer and Swede Annika Sorenstam are a distant second on eight under, with Australian Karrie Webb a shot further back and America's Laura Diaz on five under. Ochoa was one of just four players who shot under 70 on a day when blustery winds and sporadic rain made for testing conditions at the Tanah Merah Country Club. She is also the only player to shoot sub-70 scores for the first three rounds of the event.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
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