Tue, Aug 26, 2008 page19

• Sports Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■BASEBALL

  Waipahu win world series

  Tanner Tokunaga smacked two homers and Iolana Akau added a solo blast as the boys from Waipahu, Hawaii, defeated Matamoros, Mexico, 12-3 in the Little League World Series final on Sunday. Waipahu were also helped by three Matamoros errors. Two Waipahu runs were scored on passed balls and another came in on a bases-loaded walk. But the Matamoros’ line-up was loaded with dangerous hitters, so the lead wasn’t safe until reliever Christian Donahue got Fernando Villegas to ground out to short-stop, giving the US their fourth straight win. In the third-place game, Tsuyoki Setoguchi scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning to lead Tokyo to a 4-3 victory over Lake Charles, Louisiana.

  ■CRICKET

  Hayden ruled out of series

  Veteran opener Matthew Hayden has been ruled out of Australia’s one-day series against Bangladesh in Darwin because of injury. The three-match series starts on Saturday and Hayden had been named in Australia’s initial 14-man squad despite the fact he was still recovering from an Achilles injury suffered during the Indian Twenty20 Premier League. The series was to have provided preparation for the Champions Trophy, but with that tournament now delayed, the Australians decided against trying to hurry him back into action. Team officials announced Hayden would not play at a team training camp yesterday, with the Australians scheduled to fly to Darwin today. Hayden’s withdrawal means Australia will be without three of their big guns for the series. Australian captain Ricky Ponting is recovering from wrist surgery and Brett Lee will miss the series for personal reasons, the star pace man dealing with the collapse of his marriage.

  ■CRICKET

  West Indies win Tri-Series

  West Indies captain Chris Gayle top-scored with a swashbuckling 110 not out to lead his team to a seven-wicket victory over the host nation in the Canada Cup Tri-Series final in King City, Ontario, on Sunday. The left-hander struck 14 fours and six sixes in only 77 balls as the title favorites cruised to 181 for three in reply to Canada’s 179 all out in 46.5 overs. Gayle recorded his 16th century in one-day internationals to set up a commanding win for the West Indies with 22.3 overs to spare. Canada, beaten by 49 runs when the two teams met in the round-robin stage on Friday, lost wickets at regular intervals after being asked to bat first. Opener Rizwan Cheema provided the only significant resistance with a whirlwind 61 off 45 balls, while fast bowler Jerome Taylor led the West Indian attack with three for 33 in 6.5 overs.

  ■OLYMPICS

  Chavez acts after failure

  Venezuela’s poor performance at the Beijing Olympics moved Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to order the national oil company to start helping to train athletes. Venezuela’s delegation of more than 100 athletes won only a bronze medal in Beijing — an effort that prompted harsh criticism from the local media. Chavez told Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) on Sunday to “open an office of competitive sports” and asked the company’s president, Rafael Ramirez, to meet with members of Venezuela’s Olympic squad “to analyze the sports situation.” PDVSA has already expanded its activities far beyond petroleum production to include food distribution, social welfare management and building housing. Dalia Contreras Rivero won a bronze in women’s taekwondo in Beijing.
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