■ Hockey
Balsillie buys the Penguins
Jim Balsillie, the billionaire head of the firm that developed the BlackBerry mobile e-mail device, signed a deal on Thursday to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team. Balsillie, 45, must receive approval from the NHL Board of Governors to complete the sale, a vote that is expected to come before the end of the year. The price tag is US$175 million, said Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, citing unnamed sources close to the deal.
■ Basketball
Carlisle gets extension
Rick Carlisle received a multi-year extension of his coaching contract with the NBA's Indiana Pacers on Thursday. Terms of the deal were not released by the club, which gave Carlisle the title of executive vice president of basketball operations. Carlisle enters his fourth season as the Pacers coach with a 146-100 record at Indiana, including three trips to the playoffs. He guided the Pacers to a club-record 61-21 season in 2003-2004 and a trip to the NBA semi-finals. The Pacers went 44-38 in his second season, one ruined by suspensions from an early season brawl with spectators at Detroit.
■ Tennis
Hewitt out for the season
Lleyton Hewitt has been ordered to rest a knee injury and will not play again this tennis season, reports said yesterday. The Australian former world No.1 is troubled by patella tendinitis and has been advised to stay off the court until the middle of next month, Melbourne's Herald-Sun newspaper said. That leaves him no chance to force his way into the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai played around the same time, and he will also miss the chance to improve his ATP ranking of 18 after starting the year at four. Hewitt's hopes of regaining a top-10 berth will revolve around January's Australian circuit.
■ Horse racing
Munce pleads innocent
Australian jockey Chris Munce pleaded innocent at Hong Kong's District Court yesterday to allegations he accepted advantages in exchange for racing tips. Munce, a former Melbourne Cup winner, is accused of conspiring with others to provide racing tips to a businessman, who allegedly repaid the favor by placing bets for Munce and relaying the winnings to him between last December and July. The winnings allegedly totaled HK$500,000 (US$64,211). Chief District Judge Barnabas Fung scheduled a five-day trial starting Feb. 12 and Munce posted bail of HK$100,000. The court has not imposed any traveling restrictions on the jockey, but he must give Hong Kong's anti-graft agency 48 hours' notice if he plans to leave the territory.
■ Soccer
France's Barthez quits
Veteran France international goalkeeper Fabien Barthez announced his retirement on Thursday, the 35-year-old who is out of contract at Marseille breaking the news on French television. His last appearance on the pitch was in Berlin's Olympic stadium on July 9 where France lost the World Cup final to Italy on penalties. The former Manchester United keeper, capped 87 times for Les Bleus, intimated in August that he would be happy to carry on playing for a further two years if the right offer came along. But on Thursday he told TF1: "I'm finished with football and the French team. "Now I'm going to continue enjoying myself, as I've done since the age of 15, but without football. I'm starting a new life."
■ Fencino
France defends epee title
France successfully defended its team epee title at the fencing world championships on Thursday. Eric Boisse, Gauthier Grumier, Fabrice Jeannet and Ulrich Robeiri beat Spain 42-41 in the final. Boisse and Jeannet also led France's gold-medal performance at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Ukraine took bronze by defeating Hungary 45-38. In women's team foil, Russia's foursome of Svetlana Boiko, Aida Chanaeva, Julia Khakimova and Ianna Rouzavina beat Italy 23-22 in the final. South Korea, the winner last year, was third following a 43-28 win over Poland.
■ Basketball
Barcelona outplay 76ers
FC Barcelona outplayed Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers in the second half to win 109-104 on Thursday, only the third time an international club has beaten an NBA team since 1988. The Atlanta Hawks lost to the Soviet Union 132-123 in 1988 in Moscow, and the Toronto Raptors lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv 105-103 last year at Toronto. The Sixers have been in Barcelona since Sept. 29 for training camp and are one of four NBA teams taking part in the league's preseason in Europe. The exhibition game was the 76ers' opener in the NBA Europe Live tour.
■ Soccer
Hammers pair urged to quit
Argentina coach Alfio Basile said on Thursday that international stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano should quit struggling English side West Ham to save their careers. The Argentinean pair have struggled in London and the Hammers have failed to win since their arrival. "I hope both of them leave that club as soon as possible," Basile told Argentinean sports Web site TyC Sports. "I think they are half-hearted and I'm really worried about that. I hope for God's sake that Mascherano can go to Juventus as it has been said, even if he has to play in the second division [in Italy]. And Tevez can play in any position in the attacking line, but not as a left-winger like he is currently playing."
■ NFL
Gurode not pressing charges
Albert Haynesworth won't face criminal charges for scraping his boot across the unprotected face of Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode, and said on Thursday he would seek counseling for his behavior. But the Tennessee Titans tackle could not answer the one question everyone wants answered: Why? "It was a blur. It was a big, big mistake and something I wish I could do anything to take that back," said Haynesworth, who received a five-game suspension, the longest for on-field misbehavior in NFL history. Gurode's agent announced he won't seek criminal charges against Haynesworth for stomping on his head during Sunday's 45-14 win for the Cowboys. Gurode needed 30 stitches to close seven cuts and may require plastic surgery to repair the damage to his face.
■ Basketball
Lakers coach recovering
Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson is recovering well following right hip replacement surgery and is walking with a cane, assistant Kurt Rambis said on Thursday. Jackson, who has won 10 NBA championships, nine as a coach, underwent the operation on Tuesday in El Segundo, California, and was discharged from the hospital a day later. Rambis said that Jeanie Buss, Jackson's longtime girlfriend, told him the 61-year-old coach was walking with a cane. Buss is the Lakers' executive vice president of business operations and the daughter of team owner Jerry Buss.
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the
Dale Earnhardt Jr might already be NASCAR’s most popular crew chief. He is certainly an undefeated one. Pressed into unexpected service, Earnhardt on Saturday called the shots for 18-year-old prospect Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Chevrolet, as they landed in victory lane in the second-tier Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. “It felt good to have some input and decisionmaking power,” Earnhardt said. “And then helping Connor understand what our plan was so he knew when to push and what he was expected to do.” Earnhardt — who won NASCAR’s most-popular driver award 15 times — made a pit stop from his
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
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