■TENNIS
Wind delays Davis Cup tie
The start of Spain’s Davis Cup match against Serbia has been suspended due to high winds, the Spanish tennis federation (RFET) said yesterday. The weather conditions had made the purpose-built arena on the outskirts of the seaside town unsafe and technicians were working to find a solution, RFET said in a statement on its Web site. Gusting winds overnight tore out some seats in the 16,000 capacity stadium and provoked concerns over its structure. An update on the situation is due to be given at a news conference today, RFET said. David Ferrer was due to begin Spain’s title defense in the opening singles rubber against Novak Djokovic yesterday, followed by world No.1 Rafael Nadal against Janko Tipsarevic.
■BOXING
Champ turns crooner
Beijing Olympics gold medallist Somjit Jongjohor of Thailand has ditched boxing to pursue a singing career. The charismatic flyweight, who won world amateur, Asian and Olympic titles during his six years at the top, this week released his country music album Nak Rak Samak Len (Amateur Playboy), Channel 3 television reported yesterday. Somjit, 34, will be too old to defend his title at the London Games in 2012 and had considered turning professional or becoming a coach. Thailand’s famously wayward boxers have earned a reputation for gambling, boozing and womanizing but several have gone on to enjoy successful acting and singing careers. Somluck Kamsing, the country’s first Olympic gold medalist, was chided by Thai sports chiefs for spending too much time singing or starring in soap operas and movies. He flopped in his featherweight title defense at the 2000 Sydney Games.
■FOOTBALL
Bills’ Lynch pleads guilty
Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch pleaded guilty on Thursday to possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation. Lynch must also perform 80 hours of community service stemming from his arrest last month in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City. The 22-year-old was arrested after police saw him and two other men sitting in a car with the engine running. Police found marijuana and a loaded gun which they determined belonged to Lynch. It’s the second time in less than a year that Lynch has been in trouble with the police. He was under investigation in June for a hit-and-run accident that occurred the previous month. Lynch’s SUV struck and injured a woman before leaving the scene of the accident. Initially, Lynch said someone else was driving the car that struck the woman, who suffered minor injuries. After he admitted to being behind the wheel and apologized for the incident, Lynch reached an agreement in which he would plead guilty in the case thereby avoiding a criminal charge.
■FOOTBALL
Cowboys release Owens
The Dallas Cowboys released wide receiver Terrell Owens on Thursday, officially ending his turbulent three-year stint with the club. Owens was at the center of several controversies this past season. The Cowboys, expected to contend for a Super Bowl crown, failed to even reach the playoffs and many considered Owens a divisive player in the locker room. Owens has 139 career touchdown catches, second in all-time NFL history behind Jerry Rice. His 14,122 career reception yards rank fifth all-time and he also ranks sixth in career catches. Owens was signed by Dallas in 2006 after an acrimonious departure from Philadelphia, and left hard feelings behind when he departed his prior NFL team San Francisco.
■SOCCER
Sao Paolo defeat Cali
Brazil’s Sao Paolo beat Colombia’s America de Cali 3-1 in a Copa Libertadores match on Thursday that was sullied by fans throwing items on the pitch, an official being hit by a coin and two America players booked for fighting with each other. Striker Washington scored two goals and Borges added another as Sao Paolo went top of Group 4. Washington took advantage of a pair of defensive errors to strike for Sao Paulo in the third minute and the 29th minute. A Borges header after 49 minutes extended the lead, before Colombian Victor Cortes scored a consolation for America in the 85th minute. Sao Paolo are ahead of Defensor Sporting of Uruguay on goal difference, while America are pointless after two games. Argentine referee Hector Baldassi had to stop the match in the 59th minute and the 63rd minute after fans threw radios, a bottle of water and a coin onto the pitch. Colombian fourth official Francisco Penuela was hit on the head by the coin. Washington’s first goal came after a diagonal ball from the left by Jorge Wagner. Washington slipped between two defenders and touched the ball into the back of the net. The second goal was almost an exact replica, as Washington timed his run to beat the offside trap and held off defenders, while Cali keeper Julian Mesa remained rooted to his line. The mix-up provoked a heated argument between Mesa and defender Harold Viafara, who pushed each other angrily. The referee showed both a yellow card.
■CRICKET
Bangladesh postpone tour
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Thursday postponed the tour of the Pakistan team for an indefinite period after government advice over security concerns, officials said. “We have decided to postpone the tour following advice from the home affairs ministry,” said Jalal Yunus, the BCB’s spokesman, without elaborating on the security situation. The decision came in the wake of Tuesday’s attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore by unidentified gunmen that left eight people dead and six Sri Lankan players injured, and last week’s troop mutiny in Bangladesh that left many people dead. Pakistan were scheduled to arrive in Dhaka today on a 16-day trip to play five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches.
■SOCCER
Ashley Cole arrested
England and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole was arrested and fined in the early hours on Thursday after drunkenly insulting police outside a west London nightclub. The 28-year-old was leaving the Collection nightclub in South Kensington, about 2km from Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge ground, when he swore at police. Cole refused to stop cursing and was held in a police cell for more than three hours until he sobered up and was fined £80 (US$113), the standard penalty for the offense. “I felt I was being harassed by paparazzi and, while complaining to the police about this at the scene, they did warn me to calm down — a warning that I regrettably did not heed,” Cole said in a statement.
■CRICKET
One-day game washed out
The second one-day international between New Zealand and India at Wellington was abandoned because of rain yesterday. India looked set to post a big total after racing to 188 for four from 28.4 overs, but were unable to complete their innings because of the inclement weather, which caused three separate delays. Sachin Tendulkar (61) and Virender Sehwag (54) blasted half-centuries after the tourists won the toss and elected to bat first.
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
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
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
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
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