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■ Ski jumping
Ex-champ in trouble again
Former world champion ski jumper Matti Nykanen is under investigation for allegedly assaulting his wife -- just days after being released from jail. Nykanen, 42, was questioned by police on Tuesday for allegedly attacking his wife, Mervi Tapola-Nykanen, over the weekend. He was released pending further investigation, Nokia police chief inspector Antti Heijari said on Wednesday. Last year, Nykanen was sentenced to 26 months in prison for aggravated assault after he stabbed a drinking companion in Nokia, near Tampere. He was released last week, more than a year early, on good behavior. Nykanen won 19 medals at the Olympics and world championships from 1982 to 1990, the most by a ski jumper. After retiring, he took up a career as a singer and performed in bars and nightclubs.

■ Cricket
Overweight player axed
South Australian state batsman Mark Cosgrove has been suspended for a month because he's overweight, just days after returning from a stint in English league cricket. The South Australian Cricket Association said yesterday the 21-year-old Cosgrove is in an "unsatisfactory state of fitness and physical condition." It suspended Cosgrove's playing contract until Oct. 31, after which he will face further fitness tests before being considered for selection. In the meantime, Cosgrove will be given a series of weight and fitness targets.

■ Golf
Wie to take on men in Japan
US teenage prodigy Michelle Wie promises a top-rate battle of the sexes at what will be her first tournament in Japan, a cash-rich event on the Japanese professional men's tour. "I am honored that my first tournament in Japan will be an event which has been challenged by great players," Wie said in a statement issued by the organizers of the ?140 million (US$1.2 million) Casio World Open. The tournament will be held on Nov. 24-27 in Kochi on the western Japanese island of Shikoku. "I will play at my best and show you a high-level fight," said the Hawaii-born schoolgirl, who is widely expected to turn professional around her 16th birthday on Oct. 11. Wie will become only the second female to take on male players in Japan. Sweden's Sophie Gustafson competed in the same tournament two years ago but failed to make the cut.

■ Basketball
Wizards rookie shot
Washington Wizards rookie Andray Blatche will miss training camp while he recovers from gunshot wounds from an attempted carjacking. Blatche walked under his own power as he visited teammates at the MCI Center on Wednesday, three days after the shooting and one day after being released from the hospital. The 19-year-old forward was shot once early Sunday morning while riding in a car near his home in Alexandria, Virginia.

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