■ Soccer
Valencia book UEFA berth
Valencia sealed the 32nd and last spot in the third round of the UEFA Cup after routing Maccabi Haifa 4-0 in a second-leg match Thursday at Eneco Stadium. First-half goals by Mista (11th minute), Ruben Baraja (24th) and two late goals from David Albelda (90th) and Miguel Angulo (90th) gave Valencia a 4-0 aggregate score after a scoreless draw on Nov. 6. The third-round draw will be staged Friday in Switzerland. Mista's opening goal marked Valencia's 350th score in European competition. Maccabi and Valencia were originally scheduled to play two weeks ago in Izmir, Turkey, but their match was postponed twice by UEFA because of terrorist bombings in Istanbul. UEFA has banned Israeli teams from hosting European cup games for security reasons.
■ Sailing
Coutts back in controversy
America's Cup sailor Russell Coutts has been nominated for New Zealand's sportsman of the year award, reigniting a bitter controversy over his appearance for Switzerland in the Cup match in March. Coutts, an Olympic gold medalist who won the America's Cup for New Zealand in 1995 and 2000, skippered the Swiss syndicate Alinghi to a 5-0 clean-sweep of New Zealand on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf. New Zealanders' attitudes towards Coutts remain polarized and news that he was being considered for the Halberg awards, which recognize New Zealand's top sportspeople, led this week to a storm of controversy. Talkshow radio callers referred to Coutts as a traitor and demanded his exclusion from awards nomination.
■ Rugby
Tri-Nations schedule out
Defending champions New Zealand will host the first two rugby union tests against Australia and South Africa to open next year's Tri-Nations tournament, officials announced yesterday. The draw means Australia will play its two away games at the start and the end of the tournament. The opening test on July 17 between New Zealand and Australia in Wellington will be a rematch of the Rugby World Cup semifinal, and doubles as the first Bledisloe Cup test. The Wallabies then have a two-week break before playing their two home games, in Perth and Sydney, and then another two-week break before the final test against South Africa in Durban on Aug. 14. South Africa plays its first game against the All Blacks in Christchurch on July 24 before heading to Perth to play Australia on July 31.
■ Baseball
Expos back to Puerto Rico
The Montreal Expos will again play 22 home games in Puerto Rico next season, the Canadian club said on Thursday when it released its 2004 schedule. All 22 games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan will take place prior to the mid-season All-Star break. The Expos will host the New York Mets from April 9-April 11 to launch that portion of their schedule. They will also welcome Florida, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Toronto, Atlanta and Pittsburgh to the island. Montreal went 13-9 last season in San Juan.
■ Football
Salary cap up 5 percent
The NFL's salary cap is going up by a little more than 5 percent next season, a smaller increase than in some other years. The NFL Management Council told owners this week the cap is expected to be between US$78.7 million and US$79.2 million per team for next year. Those figures are subject to adjustment after the league's final gross revenues are determined -- they are US$74.8 million this season. It will take effect March 2, when the contract year begins. The cap number is 64 3/4 percent of what are called the NFL's designated gross revenues in the collective bargaining agreement.
■ Cricket
Warne hopes for selection
Australian legspinner Shane Warne, two months away from returning from a 12-month suspension for taking a banned diuretic, said yesterday he expects to be touring Sri Lanka in March. "There's obviously a lot of things go in it and they'll take two or maybe three spinners to Sri Lanka," Warne said. "So I like to think if I'm bowling well and I've presented myself in the best possible way that I'm a chance."
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but