Fri, Jun 19, 2009 page19

• Sports Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■OLYMPICS

  Race too tight to call: Rogge

  International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said the race to win the right to host the 2016 Games was too close to call, and that he was delighted he didn’t have a vote. The Belgian professed himself to be very pleased after all four candidate cities — Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro — completed 90 minute presentations and answered questions in front of 93 of the 107 IOC members Lausanne, Switzerland on Wednesday. Rogge said that this was vastly different to the final presentations which will be made in Copenhagen on Oct. 2 when all four bidding cities learn their fate. “There there will be heads of state, dignitaries and celebrities which makes it a wholly different scenario,” he said.

  ■SOCCER

  Ronaldo ends goal drought

  Ronaldo scored his first goal for nearly two months on Wednesday to help his Corinthians side beat Internacional 2-0 in the first leg of the Brazil Cup final. The former FIFA World Player of the Year scored his 11th goal of the season eight minutes into the second half when he took a long pass from Elias, dribbled past Indio and shot low into the bottom corner of goalkeeper Lauro’s net. Jorge Henrique opened the scoring for Corinthians midway through the first half, finishing off a fine move on the wing by Marcelo Oliveira.

  ■SOCCER

  Kahn hosts reality show

  A Chinese television reality show hosted by former German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was scheduled to open yesterday, producers and sponsors said. Kahn’s 10-week show, I Never Give Up, gives aspiring young Chinese goalkeepers the chance to win a place at the German Soccer Federation’s (DFB) top training academy, Berger Feld Schule. “In this show Oliver Kahn is not just looking for China’s new football talent, but sharing his advice for success in sports and life,” German airline Lufthansa, a sponsor of the TV series, said in a statement. Heilongjiang Satellite TV, based in the city of Harbin, planned to air the first program last night. Kahn, 40, who retired from playing with Bayern Munich last year, reportedly said he would be gentle with the competitors and avoid the blunt criticisms and public humiliation that have featured in similar reality shows. The show aims to reflect the “importance of individuality and personality, but most of all how the contestants handle defeat,” the official China Daily newspaper quoted Kahn as saying. “We don’t want to do an empty and meaningless, mindless casting show,” he said. The show features 10 goalkeepers aged 17 to 24, including two women.

  ■TENNIS

  Mayer replaces Nalbandian

  Argentina on Wednesday named Leonardo Mayer as a replacement for David Nalbandian on its Davis Cup team for next month’s quarter-final against the Czech Republic. The team will be led by Juan Martin Del Potro, who reached the semi-finals of the French Open and is ranked No. 5 by the ATP. Mayer, ranked No. 70, is the only new face on the team, which also includes Jose Acasuso and Juan Monaco. Mayer, 22, lost to Tommy Haas of Germany in the second round of the French Open, and defeated James Blake of the US in the first round. Nalbandian, ranked No. 16, is recovering from hip surgery and will also miss Wimbledon and the US Open. The Czech Republic vs Argentina match is from July 10 to July 12 in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.
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