■ICE HOCKEY
US women beat Canada
The US beat hosts Canada 4-2, while Sweden downed Finland 3-1 in Wednesday’s final preliminary-round games at the women’s Hockey Canada Cup in Vancouver. The results mean the US will face Finland in today’s semi-finals, while Canada will take on Sweden. Jenny Potter scored the opening two goals, Hilary Knight added a goal and two assists, and Molly Schaus made 27 saves for the US.
■BOXING
Donaire fights scary fever
Champion boxer Nonito Donaire is recovering from a frightening bout of dengue fever that put him in the hospital with a 40˚C temperature, his manager said on Thursday. Donaire, a Filipino-born fighter raised in California’s Bay Area, fell ill on Wednesday in the Philippines, where he has been living since defeating Rafael Concepcion for the WBA’s interim 52kg title last month in Las Vegas. Manager Cameron Dunkin says a regimen of intravenous fluids helped to reduce the fighter’s fever, which dropped to 38˚C on Thursday. Donaire appears healthy enough to be released later Thursday. Donaire was treated at Asian Hospital in the southern part of metropolitan Manila, one of the Philippines’ top hospitals.
■MOTOGP
Ducati sticks with Hayden
Nicky Hayden will race for Ducati again next season after the Italian team announced on Thursday they had extended the American’s contract by a year. The 2006 world champion joined Ducati at the start of the season and, after a tough start, claimed his first podium for them last weekend with third place at the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis.
■BOXING
Abraham wants Super Six
Arthur Abraham said Thursday he will not let his home-town fans down when he takes on Jermain Taylor in Berlin in his first Super Six Boxing Classic bout on Oct. 17. The 29-year-old relinquished his IBF middleweight world champion belt to step up to the super-middleweight division and is one of the six fighters to have signed up for the tournament. Along with Abraham and Taylor of the US, England’s WBC champion Karl Froch has signed up for the new concept along with Andre Dirrell, Andre Ward and WBA champion Mikkel Kessler. Armenia-born Abraham, who lives in the German capital is not content to merely take part in the Super Six, he wants to win the overall tournament. “The quality of fighters in this tournament is already good. But I would not only like to participate, I want to win it,” he said.
■CHESS
Drunk grandmaster loses
A leading French chess player turned up drunk and dozed off after just 11 moves in an international tournament in Kolkata, losing the round on technical grounds, domestic media reported yesterday. Grandmaster Vladislav Tkachiev arrived for Thursday’s match against India’s Praveen Kumar in such an inebriated state that he could hardly sit in his chair and soon fell asleep, resting his head on the table, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported. Indian papers carried pictures of the world number 58 sleeping and the organizers’ futile attempts to wake his up. The game was awarded to the Indian on the technical ground of Tkachiev being unable to complete his moves within the stipulated time of an hour and 30 minutes, the paper said. The player was warned and reprimanded by the organizers afterwards, but has been allowed to take part in the remainder of the competition, the paper said.
■SOCCER
Gunners to appeal ban
Arsenal are to appeal against the two-match ban imposed by UEFA on striker Eduardo da Silva for diving in a Champions League match last week. “We strongly believe that the decision taken is deeply flawed and not based on any forensic view of the video evidence available,” the Premier League club said in a statement on Thursday. “There are obvious errors and inconsistencies in UEFA’s judgment and we intend to appeal.” The Brazilian-born Croatia international was given the ban after UEFA’s disciplinary and control panel ruled he had tried to deceive the referee to win a penalty in the second leg of Arsenal’s Champions League playoff tie against Celtic. Eduardo converted the penalty awarded by referee Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez after he tumbled to the ground despite there appearing to be no contact with Celtic keeper Artur Boruc.
■SOCCER
Reds stadium still on hold
Liverpool’s new stadium will not be built until the global recession is over and credit becomes available to finance the US$800 million project. The 60,000-seat replacement for Liverpool’s historic but crumbling Anfield was due to have opened next year, but the economic downturn forced co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr to halt building work in August last year. “Construction on the stadium will begin when the current contraction in the banking industry ends and the global financial markets re-establish their equilibrium,” Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow said.
■SOCCER
Argentina attend Mass
Diego Maradona and his Argentina team went to Mass on Thursday, praying for help in today’s critical World Cup qualifier against No. 1-ranked Brazil. The religious service was held on the training ground where Argentina are preparing for the game in Rosario, about 300km northwest of Buenos Aires. The mass was organized by Nelida Pariani, the wife of Julio Grondona, who is the president of the Argentine Football Association. Argentina are struggling to qualify for next year’s World Cup in South Africa and need a victory.
■YACHTING
Oracle goes back to court
US syndicate Oracle on Thursday launched new legal moves against America’s Cup defenders Alinghi over the rules for the next edition of yachting’s premier event. It said it had asked the New York Supreme Court to ensure that Alinghi does not try to impose regulations, notably concerning the measurements of boats and their equipment, that do not exist under the Deed of Gift, the 19th century rules that govern the oldest trophy in international sport. Alinghi, owned by Swiss biotech billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, announced last month it would face Oracle in a multi-hull duel for the 33rd America’s Cup in the United Arab Emirates at Ras al-Khaimah from Feb. 8.
■SWIMMING
Miller avoids jail term
Former world champion swimmer Scott Miller avoided a jail term yesterday for supplying the party drug ecstasy to a friend as a birthday gift. District Court Judge Greg Woods ordered Miller to complete 100 hours of community work. He also imposed a two-year good behavior bond. Miller, 34, pleaded guilty to five charges including supplying a prohibited drug, after he gave 12 ecstasy pills to Mark Catchpole, the son of an Australian rugby great, as a gift.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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