■SOCCER
Henry to miss Cup final
Barcelona striker Thierry Henry will miss the Copa del Rey final and might not play in the Champions League final because of his strained right knee ligament. The club said on Friday that Henry will miss the next four games, including Wednesday’s Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao. The France striker was “undergoing specific treatment to try and ensure that he can play in Rome against Manchester United,” the club said on its Web site. Henry injured his knee during Barcelona’s 6-2 win at Real Madrid last weekend. Although he traveled with the team to London, Henry missed Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea that advanced the Spanish league leaders to the Champions League final on May 27. The 31-year-old former Arsenal striker has been one of the keys to Barcelona’s bid to become the first Spanish team to win the treble of Europe’s top club competition and the domestic league and cup double.
■SOCCER
Barca to face the Galaxy
Barcelona’s tour of the US this summer will include a match against David Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy. Barcelona will play an exhibition match against the Galaxy at the 90,000 seat Rose Bowl Stadium on Aug. 1. The Catalan club will also face the Seattle Sounders on Aug. 5 and a third match against a yet to be named opponent. Beckham will be back with the Galaxy by the time Barca visit under the terms of his loan agreement with AC Milan.
■NASCAR
Kenseth grabs pole position
Matt Kenseth set a Darlington Raceway record in winning his first pole in four years on Friday, while three-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson will start near the back for the Southern 500 after a qualifying crash. Kenseth had a lap at 288.89kph on the 60-year-old track to take the top spot for the race. He surpassed the mark of 288.77kph set last year by Greg Biffle, the first race after Darlington’s repavement. Johnson, a two-time Darlington winner, had the back end of his car slide into the turn two wall on his first qualifying lap. Then Johnson’s front side hit an infield wall and brought the car to a stop. Johnson was evaluated at the infield care center and released a short time later.
■CYCLING
Riders to be tested for CERA
Riders in the Giro d’Italia will be tested for the advanced blood-boosting drug CERA. Several cyclists have tested positive for the substance since last year’s Tour de France. All 198 riders entered in the Giro underwent routine pre-race tests by the International Cycling Union (UCI) on Thursday and there will be 481 more controls — plus surprise tests — during the three-week race. Giro d’Italia director Angelo Zomegnan announced plans for CERA testing on Friday, but did not specify who will carry out the controls. Urine tests for insulin will also be conducted.
■GOLF
Skins game postponed
The made-for-television Skins game in Indian Wells, a Thanksgiving weekend tradition since 1983, has been postponed because of the global financial crisis. “The Skins game has enjoyed a long and successful history ... but given the current economic climate, postponing the 2009 event was necessary,” IMG media executive vice president Barry Frank said in a statement on Friday. “We look forward to working with key partners over the coming months to ensure the Skins game comes back next year in a manner befitting one of golf’s great traditions.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
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