■ATHLETICS
Tsoumeleka test found EPO
Greek athlete Athanasia Tsoumeleka, who won the Olympic 20km walk title on home ground in 2004, tested positive for EPO ahead of the Beijing Games, Net television reported on Saturday. Net reported that the 27-year-old Tsoumeleka tested positive for the banned blood booster following an Aug. 6 test just ahead of the Beijing Games. The broadcaster said that she had denied blood doping while indicating she was going to retire. Born in Preveza, northwestern Greece, Tsoumeleka, an asthma sufferer, was a surprise gold winner in 2004 and placed ninth in Beijing. Ahead of Beijing, she had expressed fears that air pollution in the Chinese capital might affect her showing.
■OLYMPICS
Melbourne wants Games
Melbourne wants to bring the Olympics back to the city that hosted the Games in 1956 and may bid for either the 2024 or 2028 event, a report said yesterday. The Melbourne Age newspaper said Rod Eddington, chairman of the Victorian Major Events Company, the body that would lead the bid, had informed the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) of the city’s interest. AOC chief John Coates confirmed that he had spoken with Eddington and said Melbourne, which hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2006, was well placed because it already had so many world-class sporting facilities. “The Melbourne Cricket Ground would have to be at the center of the bid, it would have to be,” Coates said. The timing of any bid would depend on Australia’s attempt to land the soccer World Cup in either 2018 or 2022, with a decision on those events set for December next year, the paper said.
■SOCCER
Ibisevic has knee surgery
Hoffenheim striker Vedad Ibisevic has undergone a successful operation on his injured right knee, the German league leaders said on Saturday. The Bundesliga’s top scorer with 18 goals tore his cruciate ligament in a friendly game against SV Hamburg during a training camp in Spain on Wednesday. The Bosnia striker had surgery at St Elisabeth hospital in Heidelberg and will be out for the rest of the season. Swiss forward Eren Derdiyok has meanwhile turned down an approach from Hoffenheim, who are now in the market for a replacement striker. The Basel striker has been reported as saying he would be joining fellow Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season. Hoffenheim’s billionaire investor Dietmar Hopp told Bild newspaper on Saturday he backed a new signing but was “pessimistic of finding a replacement in such short time.” Hopp said he would give a chance to Brazilian striker Wellington, who was signed for 5 million euros (US$6.65 million) last summer but has yet to establish himself in the side.
■MARATHON
Mugara wins in Mumbai
Kenneth Mugara led a Kenyan sweep in the men’s event of the Mumbai marathon yesterday in the city’s first international sports event since the militant attacks in November. Almost 35,000 people participated in five separate events in the annual run through the streets of south and central Mumbai, taking them past two of the three landmarks where Islamic gunmen laid siege, killing 179 people. Mugara clocked a course record time of 2:11.51 ahead of David Tarus in second and John Kelai, winner of the previous two editions, third. Ethiopia’s Haile Kebebush won the women’s race in a time of 2:34.08 with compatriot Marta Marcos second and Kenya’s Irene Mogaka third.
■FOOTBALL
Rams name new coach
Steve Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator for the reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants, was named the coach of the St. Louis Rams on Saturday by the National Football League team. The 49-year-old assistant coach has agreed to a four-year deal to replace interim Rams coach Jim Haslett, who took over after Scott Linehan was fired following an 0-4 start. “We considered some very qualified and outstanding candidates for this position but we kept coming back to Steve Spagnuolo,” Rams general manager Billy Devaney said. “He represented what we were looking for.” The Rams finished 2-14, last in the NFC West division, and allowed 29.1 points a game while scoring only an average of 14.5 points a contest — both figures second-worst in the 32-team league. Spagnuolo was a defensive assistant coach for Philadelphia from 1999 through 2006 before joining the Giants, where he build a unit that led the NFL with 53 quarterback sacks. “We’re very excited that Steve will be our head coach and are looking forward to an exciting season,” Rams owner Chip Rosenbloom said.
■FOOTBALL
Morris becomes Bucs coach
Raheem Morris became the NFL’s youngest coach on Saturday when the 32-year-old Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator was promoted one day after the firing of Jon Gruden. In addition to making Morris only the seventh black head coach in NFL history, the Buccaneers made director of pro personnel Mark Dominik the team’s new general manager, replacing Bruce Allen, who was also fired on Friday. The ouster came in the wake of a late-season collapse that cost Tampa Bay a playoff spot. The Bucs began the season 9-3 but lost their final four games to tumble out of the title chase. Morris oversaw the Tampa Bay secondary until last month when he replaced Monte Kiffin in the defensive post after Kiffin departed to guide the University of Tennessee.
■BASEBALL
Phillies sign MVP Hamels
Reigning Major League Baseball champion Philadelphia has signed World Series Most Valuable Player Cole Hamels to a three-year contract extension worth US$20.5 million. The deal, first reported by the New York Post, allows the Phillies to avoid arbitration with the 25-year-old southpaw pitcher. Hamels was 14-10 last season with a 3.09 earned-run average in 33 starts and was a hero in the playoffs, going 4-0 in five starts with a 1.80 earned-run average to win World Series and National League championship series MVP honors. Hamels, 38-23 with a 3.43 ERA in 84 starts with the Phillies, settled for lesser deals than pitchers A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe obtained during the off-season but will also be able to test free agency earlier.
■BADMINTON
Danes dominate series
Denmark grabbed three titles while hosts South Korea took one from the mixed doubles at the finals of the Korea Open Super Series badminton tournament yesterday in Seoul. The Danish players swept up the singles crowns. In men’s singles, Peter Hoeg Gade upset the top-seeded Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 21-18, 10-21, 21-17. Lee, the world’s No. 1 player, was coming off a win at the Malaysia Open a week ago. Gade’s compatriot Tine Rasmussen captured the women’s title over Pi Hongyan of France, 21-19, 21-19. In the men’s doubles, Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen denied the South Koreans their fourth straight Super Series title.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
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