■BOXING
Zuyeu lasts just 35 seconds
Olympic super heavyweight champion Roberto Cammarelle needed just 35 seconds on Friday to knock out Viktar Zuyeu and reach the final of the world championships. The Italian defending world champion landed a heavy left hook on Zuyeu that forced the Belarusian’s corner to throw in the towel after a standing count by the referee. Cammarelle’s opponent in the final will be Ukraine’s Roman Kapitonenko, who beat Olympic silver medalist Zhang Zhilei of China 5-2.
■CYCLING
Zabriskie wins fifth stage
American David Zabriskie won the time trial in the fifth stage of the Tour of Missouri and took the overall lead. Zabriskie, riding for the Garmin-Slipstream team, completed Friday’s flat, fast 31km course in 36 minutes and 30 seconds. Gustav Larsson of Team Saxo Bank finished second, 30 seconds behind. American Tom Zirbel, of Bissell Pro Cycling, finished third and Marco Pinotti, of Team Columbia-HTC, finished fourth.
■TRIATHLON
Brownlee takes 2009 title
Britain’s Alistair Brownlee sprinted the final 500m of the run leg to win the ITU triathlon world championship series grand final in Gold Coast, Australia, yesterday, taking the 2009 overall title. Brownlee, who won four of the seven world championship series events this year, came into the final with a 351-point lead over Javier Gomez of Spain. The Gold Coast final was worth 1,200 points, and Brownlee needed only a top-five finish to clinch the championship. The 21-year-old former junior and under-23 world champion finished in an official time of 1 hour, 44 minutes, 51 seconds. Gomez was six seconds behind, while Beijing Olympic gold medalist Jan Frodeno of Germany finished third.
■FOOTBALL
Williams brothers to play
A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for Minnesota Vikings Pat Williams and Kevin Williams to play all season, despite the NFL’s attempts to suspend them for violating the league’s anti-doping policy. The NFL had already said the two defensive tackles could play in today’s season-opener at Cleveland because their court fight over the suspensions would not be decided in time. The fight isn’t over, but a three-judge panel of the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld earlier decisions from a federal district court — including one that says the remaining legal issues must be resolved in state court. The judge there has issued an injunction prohibiting the NFL from suspending the players, and he has said a state trial during this season was unlikely.
■TENNIS
Rain delays US Open
A steady rain on Friday forced the cancelation of play at the US Open, meaning it will spill over to tomorrow for the men’s final, tournament officials said. Thursday’s rain-suspended quarter-final between Rafael Nadal and Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez was set to begin yesterday’s program. When rain halted play on Thursday, Nadal led Gonzalez 7-6, 6-6 with the Chilean serving at 2-3 in the tiebreak. That match would be followed by the women’s semi-finals, with Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark facing Belgian Yanina Wickmayer and Serena Williams playing Kim Clijsters. Since Nadal and Gonzalez were to be completing their match yesterday, the men’s semi-finals have been rescheduled for today with the final to be played tomorrow, officials said. The women’s final is scheduled for today.
■CRICKET
Flower confident on Flintoff
England coach Andy Flower is confident injured all-rounder Andrew Flintoff will sign the incremental contract he was awarded on Friday for the next 12 months. Flintoff, 31, who is recovering from knee surgery and is not expected to be fit until February at the earliest, did not qualify for a full central contract as he has retired from Test matches. Signing the incremental contract would give Flower a say in when and where Flintoff plays. Flower said: “First up I would like to see him fit again because we don’t know how long that is going to take. I don’t think there are going to be huge negotiations over what type of games he plays. ‘Fred’ will be available for one-day international and Twenty20 cricket for England. Simple as that.”
■SOCCER
Bilardo backs Maradona
Diego Maradona’s faltering reign as Argentina coach would only be ended by the arrival of either Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary, team manager Carlos Bilardo said on Friday in a bizarre exchange with reporters. “If Jesus Christ returned or the Virgin Mary, then I’d accept it. Otherwise, no,” Bilardo said. Maradona skippered Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title when Bilardo was coach, but the 48-year-old has come under intense pressure with the team’s 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign threatening to fall apart. Since he took over, Maradona has overseen four defeats in six qualifiers, two of which came in the last week against Brazil and Paraguay.
■SOCCER
Capello to keep WAGS out
Wary of the distractions accompanying soccer players’ celebrity lifestyles, England coach Fabio Capello will only allow players’ partners to visit the squad for a single day after each game at next year’s World Cup. Seeking to avoid a repeat of what defender Rio Ferdinand called “a circus” when the glamorous wives and girlfriends — the so-called WAGS — stayed near the players at the 2006 tournament in Germany, Capello is set to take a tougher stance than his predecessors. “I hope we will be there for a very long period, but the players will have one day with their family, with the girls and with their friends,” Capello said. “We are there to play football, not for a holiday.”
■SOCCER
Viduka set to return home
Former Middlesbrough and Newcastle United striker Mark Viduka is returning home to live in Australia, his agent told an Australian Web site yesterday. Uncertainty had surrounded the former Socceroo’s future since Newcastle were relegated from the English Premier League last season. The 33-year-old had been linked with a possible move to English clubs Portsmouth, Fulham and West Ham United, but his agent, Steve Kutner, ruled out another contract in Europe. “I can confirm that Mark will not be seeking another contract in England or Europe and is coming home to Australia to live,” Kutner said.
■RUGBY UNION
Scrumhalf Kelleher arrested
Former All Blacks scrumhalf Byron Kelleher was arrested after allegedly being involved in a drink-fueled scuffle following a road accident in the early hours of Friday morning, it was claimed. The ladepeche.fr Web site said Kelleher, who plays for French side Toulouse, injured his shoulder in the altercation, which occurred at around 3am, and could be out of action for up to two months. Kelleher, 32, was released from custody on Friday afternoon, Toulouse prosecutor Michel Valet said.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
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