■ SOCCER
Zola impresses Hammers
Gianfranco Zola has impressed West Ham during an interview and has been shortlisted to succeed Alan Curbishley. The shortlist to take over at the Premiership club is now Zola, Roberto Donadoni and Slaven Bilic, with Michael Laudrup still a possibility. A top-level club source said: “Zola not only has impressive credentials but also came across incredibly well in our talks today.” Meanwhile, Bilic’s advisors told West Ham he would not be available until January and if the Croatia coach sticks to that timescale then the club will not wait for him. Donadoni also made a good impression on officials when he was interviewed last week, while Laudrup will have talks with the club today. Zola, the former Chelsea midfielder, has years of experience in English socer under his belt and that stood him in good stead when he met club chiefs on Saturday. The fact Zola and Donadoni are Italians could also be a factor given that West Ham’s director of football Gianluca Nani is a compatriot, and that they would be much happier with the continental-style working relationship than Curbishley was.
■ CRICKET
Aussies raring to go
Australia’s stars said they were fit and raring to face India after their one-day clean sweep against Bangladesh. The world’s top team embark on a gruelling tour against their fierce rivals in two weeks time. Stand-in captain Michael Clarke said Australia were super-fit and acclimatized to the expected heat after the 3-0 series win in tropical northern Australia. “It’s been great preparation. It’s been so warm up here, the guys have had a great time, we’ve had brilliant training facilities and we’ve been doing plenty of fitness,” Clarke said. “I think all the boys are in pretty good shape and looking forward to getting over to India and having a good Test series.” Ricky Ponting is expected to recover from injury to captain Australia with bowler Brett Lee and batsman Matthew Hayden also back. Troubled all-rounder Andrew Symonds has been ruled out and told to get psychological help. Australia are expected to name their squad next week.
■ RUGBY UNION
SARU denies coach claims
The South Africa Rugby Union (SARU) denied on Saturday a report claiming national coach Peter de Villiers was the victim of blackmail. A newspaper said an unnamed rugby official and a ’Bok squad member threatened to release a video allegedly showing De Villiers involved in sexual activities if the player was dropped. “Peter de Villiers and SARU categorically deny there has been any attempts to blackmail or coerce him over the selection of any player to the national squad,” a SARU statement said. “SARU can confirm that a company employee did approach De Villiers on Aug. 15 in Cape Town. The employee made certain extraordinary claims which SARU looked into but has been unable to find any basis to support in fact. The employee was advised on Aug. 25 that he would be called to an internal misconduct hearing, the charge sheet for which is still being prepared.”
■ CRICKET
Proteas say no to Pakistan
South Africa have turned down a request from the Pakistan Cricket Board to organize a one-day series this month, saying their players needed a rest after a hectic tour of England. The Pakistan board had approached Cricket South Africa to host a tri-series also involving Sri Lanka after the postponement of the Champions Trophy which was to have been held in Pakistan this month.
■ COLLEGE FOOTBALL
West Virginia stunned
Eighth-ranked West Virginia were upset 24-3 by East Carolina on Saturday, the second straight defeat of a ranked opponent by the Pirates. Quarter-back Patrick Pinkney was 22-28 with 236 with a touchdown for East Carolina and running back Jonathan Williams scored two touchdowns and ran for 69 yards. The Mountaineers, playing on the road in Greenville, North Carolina, lost two fumbles and scored their only points on a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter. Last week, East Carolina beat Virginia Tech, then ranked No. 17, on a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown in the game’s final minutes. West Virginia were the No. 8 team in both the writers’ and the coaches’ polls. In Columbus, third-ranked Ohio State trailed Ohio 14-12 after three quarters and scored two touchdowns to pull out a victory at home.
■ CYCLING
Ballan wins in Andorra
Italian Alessandro Ballan of Lampre won Saturday’s seventh stage of the Tour of Spain, a 223.2km ride from Barbastro to La Rabassa in Andorra, to take the overall lead, as the peleton moved into the mountains. Riders had to negotiate not just the climbs, but the unseasonably inclement weather as rain fell persistently amid the foggy and cold conditions going into Andorra. “It’s the first time that I have led in a major race,” Ballan said. “I dedicate this win to my little daughter, who was born on Aug. 11.” Spanish star Alberto Contador, one of the favorites, snatched back a few seconds on compatriot and rival Carlos Sastre, the Tour de France winner, and almost a minute on another would-be winner, Alejandro Valverde. But Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, leader going into the stage, struggled and finished up more than three minutes off the pace.
■ GOLF
Five-year-old bags an ace
Look out Tiger Woods, five-year-old Drew Gray’s got game. The kindergartner had a hole-in-one — though it does not count because it was on par-three course — last week on the 75-yard, fifth hole at Yorktown Golf Club in Belleville, Illinois. The shot was witnessed by several family members and was verified by course owner John Bethard. Drew is the youngest player to ace a hole at the course, Bethard said. Drew has been playing golf on family outings for two years. He played this summer in the club’s golf camp for four to eight-year-olds, Bethard said.
■ CYCLING
Gerdemann wins Tour
Yellow-jersey holder Linus Gerdemann won the Tour of Germany on Saturday after the eighth and final stage in Bremen as Columbia teammate and compatriot Tony Martin won the 34km time trial. Gerdemann, 25, wore the yellow jersey for the duration of the competition and finished fourth in Saturday’s time trial to win the tour overall. After the Tour’s nine-days, Gerdemann won by 52 seconds from second-placed teammate Thomas Lovkvist from Sweden. Third overall was Slovenia’s Janez Brajkovic, who rides for Astana.
■ BOXING
Cook captures WBO title
Nicky Cook captured the World Boxing Organization super-featherweight title from fellow Briton Alex Arthur in a unanimous points verdict on Saturday. Cook took the belt with a 112-117, 111-117, 114-115 win at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England. He therefore ended Arthur’s year-long reign after being the aggressor for most of the absorbing encounter to lift his first world title.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
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