■HOCKEY
Puck breaks Lidstrom’s nose
Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom will miss at least three games after he suffered a broken nose when he was hit in the face by a puck in a National Hockey League pre-season game. “He’s got a broken nose, but no damage to the cheek or eye, so everything’s fine,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said Thursday of Lidstrom, who was hurt in the third period of the team’s pre-season opener against Montreal on Wednesday night. The Red Wings have eight more exhibition games before they open their defense of the Stanley Cup title against Toronto on Oct. 9. In a text message to a Swedish newspaper, Lidstrom said that he received 25 stitches under the right eyebrow and that his eye was swollen shut. The 38-year-old defenseman doesn’t wear a visor, and Babcock said he wouldn’t force the issue. “Those are big boys,” he said. “They can make those decisions.”
■OLYMPICS
Trademark stirs controversy
Organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics denied on Thursday they were trying to lay claim to Canada’s national anthem, O Canada, by trademarking part of it for the Games’ official slogan. Trademarking the English phrase “with glowing hearts” and French phrase “des plus brilliants exploits” was to stop them being used improperly by commercial groups not associated with the Games, the Vancouver Organizing Committee said. The committee unveiled the “With glowing hearts/Des plus brilliants exploits” slogan at a ceremony at its headquarters, attended by several Canadian Olympic athletes. The committee said it has no plans to restrict public use of the phrases — such as singing the anthem — but was worried they could be use to sell fake tickets or merchandise by tricking people into thinking they were approved by Games organizers.
■BASKETBALL
Sun Yue to be late for camp
Sun Yue, hoping to earn a roster spot with the Los Angeles Lakers, has glandular fever and will miss the start of training camp, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday. The Chinese guard missed an unofficial practice with Lakers’ teammates on Wednesday morning because he felt lethargic, which he attributed to jet lag after arriving in Los Angeles from China. After being introduced to Los Angeles media on Wednesday, Sun became ill and was taken to hospital, where the viral illness mononucleosis, also known as glandular fever, was diagnosed.
■EQUESTRIAN
Jockeys banned for cheating
Top trainer Aidan O’Brien and jockeys Johnny Murtagh and Colm O’Donoghue have been found guilty of breaching horse racing rules after a tactical maneuver that enabled Duke of Marmalade to win the Juddmonte International Stakes. O’Brien, who has dominated the major races in Europe this season, was fined £5,000 (US$9,150) and the two jockeys were each banned for seven days. All three appeared before a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel in central London on Thursday to answer charges relating to O’Donoghue’s riding of Red Rock Canyon in last month’s Group One race at Newmarket. Red Rock Canyon was leading the race when O’Donoghue moved the colt away from the rail, which allowed Murtagh a clear run through on Duke of Marmalade. The disciplinary panel ruled that Murtagh acted in a manner prejudicial to the proper conduct of racing, and that O’Brien failed to give adequate instructions concerning the rules.
■SOCCER
UEFA Cup to get new name
The UEFA Cup will be renamed the UEFA Europa League from next season in an effort to boost the competition that has lost much of its appeal, European soccer’s governing body said yesterday. The event will not only have a new name but also a new 48-team group stage with both home and away matches, UEFA said in a statement after a meeting of its executive committee in Bordeaux, France. UEFA hopes that centralized marketing of broadcast rights and of sponsorship as well as a new logo will give the competition a new lease of life. “These changes will improve this historic competition which is very important for UEFA and for European football, as it gives more fans, players and clubs the thrill of European club football,” UEFA president Michel Platini said in a statement. “I am convinced the new format will give the UEFA Europa League a successful new impetus,” Platini said. The UEFA Cup, which was introduced in the 1971-1972 season to replace the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, has struggled in recent years, taking second place to the more prestigious and more lucrative Champions League. That clubs who have failed to survive the group stage of the Champions League continue in the UEFA Cup has contributed to its perception as a second-rate event.
■SOCCER
Romario might sue ex-club
Brazil’s 2004 World Cup winning striker Romario is considering legal action against former club Vasco da Gama for the non-authorized sale of a commemorative shirt marking his 1,000th goal. The GloboEsporte Internet site said on Thursday that Romario, who retired at the beginning of this year aged 42 after two decades as a professional, was considering suing both his former Rio de Janeiro club and the Reebok company for the illegal use of image rights. Romario’s lawyer Norval Valeri said Romario did not authorize the sale of the special T-shirt of the 1,000th goal, which was not covered in his agreement with the club on image rights.
■SOCCER
Robinho in, Ronaldinho out
There was no place for AC Milan’s Ronaldinho on Thursday as Brazil coach Dunga named his 22-man squad for next month’s 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Colombia. Dunga called on Ronaldinho’s club-mate Kaka, whose last game for his country was against Uruguay in November last year, and Manchester City’s new wonder signings Jo and Robinho. Despite appearing at the Beijing Olympics last month, where he scored two goals before Brazil were knocked out in the semi-finals, Dunga chose to leave Ronaldinho out. “Ronaldinho has not had enough time to improve with his new club. He is missing rhythm,” Dunga said. Brazil play Venezuela on Oct. 12, then Colombia four days later.
■SOCCER
Euro championships expand
The European soccer championships in 2016 will be expanded from 16 teams to 24, FIFA’s European executive committee member Franz Beckenbauer said on Thursday. The 16-team format for the Euro finals has been in place since 1996. But presidents of the 53 federations that make up UEFA spoke out in favor of an expansion during an informal meeting with UEFA president Michel Platini on the eve of the Euro 2008 final in Vienna in June. Immediate ramifications for the staging of the tournament, should the expansion go ahead, would be an increase to 51 matches from 31 over four weeks instead of three.
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
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