Sun, Jan 11, 2009 page18

• Sport Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ICE HOCKEY

  Grabovski iced for abuse

  Toronto Maple Leafs center Mikhail Grabovski was suspended for three games without pay by the NHL on Friday for abuse of an official. Late in the third period of Thursday’s 6-2 loss to Montreal, Grabovski was wrestled to the ice by linesman Scott Cherrey, who was trying to separate him from Canadiens left wing Sergei Kostitsyn. Grabovski shoved the official and kicked his own helmet before gesturing to fans as he departed the ice. Grabovski will be eligible to return to action on January 16, when the Maple Leafs face the Atlanta Thrashers.

  ■FORMULA ONE

  Buemi wins Toro Rosso seat

  Sebastien Buemi, a 20-year-old Swiss driver, has won a Formula One seat with the Toro Rosso team. Buemi, who competed in the GP2 series last year, is expected to be the youngest driver on the F1 grid this year. Buemi was also a reserve driver last year for Toro Rosso’s sister team, Red Bull Racing. He came up through Red Bull’s junior driver program. “Being a Formula One driver has always been my target, since I first started racing,” Buemi said. “This year, I will do all I can to bring home the best possible results and to show Red Bull that the confidence it has shown in me is justified.” Buemi’s first official track outing will be at the test session at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal later this month. Toro Rosso must still decide on its other driver for this year, including whether to retain Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais.

  ■BASEBALL

  Bloomquist signs with KC

  Versatile Willie Bloomquist agreed on Friday to a US$3.1 million, two-year contract with the Kansas City Royals. Kansas City also agreed to a US$1.3 million, one-year contract with right-handed pitcher Kyle Davies, who had been eligible for salary arbitration. The 31-year-old Bloomquist spent all seven of his big league seasons with the Seattle Mariners, playing every position except pitcher and catcher.

  ■RUGBY UNION

  Cueto impresses Johnson

  Sale winger Mark Cueto reinforced his Six Nations credentials in front of England coach Martin Johnson when he scored his team’s only try in a 14-8 win over Premiership leaders London Irish on Friday. Cueto, one of the forgotten men of the England set-up having been axed after the 2007 World Cup, scored in the 57th minute of a bruising Edgeley Park encounter after being released by another international outcast, fly-half Charlie Hodgson who teamed well with replacement Mathew Tait. It was Cueto’s fourth try in his last three games. London Irish had led 8-6 at the interval with Topsy Ojo scoring a try for the Exiles in the 30th minute after impressive approach work by Shane Geraghty and Seilala Mapusua.

  ■SNOW SKIING

  Injury to sideline Grugger

  Austrian skier Hans Grugger’s surgery on his right knee yesterday is expected to sideline him for six months. Grugger, a speed specialist, tore cruciate ligaments and damaged a meniscus during downhill training in Wengen, Switzerland, on Wednesday, the Austrian ski federation said on Friday. He had just recovered from a bacterial inflammation in his left knee, which had kept him out since November. Grugger also missed the second part of last season recovering from surgery after tearing cartilage and ligaments in the left knee. The 27-year-old Grugger has four career World Cup victories — two in downhill and two in super-G.

  ■SOCCER

  Galaxy acquire Miglioranzi

  The Los Angeles Galaxy acquired Brazilian midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi from the Columbus Crew for a conditional fourth-round pick in next year’s MLS SuperDraft. Miglioranzi, 31, began his MLS career with the Galaxy in 2006, appearing in three games before being traded to Columbus after the season. He played in England with Portsmouth and Swindon Town for eight years before joining the Galaxy. Miglioranzi had three goals in 37 games over two seasons at Columbus.

  ■SOCCER

  Snowfall interrupts practice

  A rare, heavy snowfall in central Spain forced Real Madrid to cancel a training session on Friday. “Snow has paralyzed Madrid ... and Real Madrid,” the Spanish champions said on their Web site. Several players, employees and soccer journalists could not get to the Valdebebas training ground northwest of the city as many roads were closed. “The white blanket covered Valdebebas and forced [coach] Juande Ramos to cancel Friday’s session and press conference. The last workout of the week is still scheduled for Saturday,” the club said. Real, third in the Primera Liga 12 points behind leaders Barcelona, play at Real Mallorca today.

  ■SOCCER

  Fans fret over sticker

  Obsessed fans were in a panic that the David Beckham sticker for the Panini albums would not be freely available, Ansa reported on Friday. The sticker will only be sold on request rather than in the usual packets, leading Panini commercial director Antonio Allegra to describe the response as a real “panic.” “It’s a real obsession. Since early this morning, we have been submerged by telephone calls and e-mails. I think we have had a 1,000 in a single day,” Allegra said. “I could never have imagined something like this. Even after 6pm when our offices closed, the telephone was still ringing.”

  ■BIATHLON

  Iourieva wins 7.5km sprint

  Ekaterina Iourieva of Russia won Friday’s 7.5km sprint race in Oberhof, Germany, to claim her first biathlon World Cup victory of the season. Iourieva shrugged off one penalty and completed the Oberhof course in 22 minutes, 9.7 seconds to edge Germany’s Andrea Henkel, who shot clean to finish 2.4 seconds behind. Sweden’s Helena Jonsson was third, 19.6 seconds back, also without missing a shot. It was Iourieva’s fourth podium finish of the season and she remains second in the overall World Cup standings with 337 points, 24 behind fellow Russian Svetlana Sleptsova.

  ■SWIMMING

  Phelps returns to China

  Michael Phelps is back in the city where he made Olympic history. The record-breaking swimmer left the US on Friday for Beijing, a trip tied to a sponsorship deal with Mazda that is billed as China’s largest ever for a foreign celebrity. “The guy is a folk hero in mainland China,” said Chris Fenton, general manager of DMG North America, which brokered the deal. “Even though he is not Chinese and the eight gold medals were not won by a Chinese athlete, it was such an incredible story, such an incredible feat, that the Chinese, like the rest of the world, saw him as a wonder.” While specific financial terms were not released, Phelps will receive “well into the seven figures per year” to exclusively endorse the new Mazda 6 model in a Chinese advertising campaign that includes TV commercials, billboards, newspaper and magazine ads and personal appearances. Phelps will be in Beijing through Thursday.
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