■ Golf
Duo tee up record attempt
Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Emanuele Canonica of Italy will attempt to break the world driving-distance record of 808m ahead of next week's Mallorca Classic. Briton Paul Slater, the record holder, will also be present when the South runway of the Son Sant Joan airport in Palma is closed for two hours on Tuesday. Slater, 35, a teaching professional from Bolton, set the record in April on the runway of an old airport in Wroughton, England, surpassing his previous mark of 658.3m.
■ Soccer
English FA suspends agent
England's Football Association suspended agent Charles Mambo on Friday from all soccer-related activity. The FA, citing legal reasons, would not say why Mambo was suspended. However, the FA and Premier League have been cracking down on agents implicated in probes into illegal payments in player transfers. Mambo was suspended after the FA received the results of a test to determine "good character and reputation." That test includes consideration of an agent's criminal record and financial history.
■ Rugby Union
Fijian ace returning to Agen
Fiji winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca, who has been absent from his club Agen for four months, will return to France this weekend, the club said on Friday. Caucaunibuca, the top try scorer in France for the last two seasons with 33 in total, had been expected to resume his career in France in time for the new league season. But he was delayed by having to play internationals matches. Then he was forced to stay in Fiji after falling seriously ill and was hospitalized. Reports suggested that he lost 12 kilos in the process. After recovering, Caucaunibuca's expected return to Europe was delayed further when his wife became sick after giving birth to the couple's second child last month.
■ Snowboarding
Grabner and Kober triumph
Austria's Siegfried Grabner and Germany's Amelie Kober won the snowboarding season's opening races in the parallel giant slalom World Cup on Friday. Grabner beat Switzerland's Simon Schoch in the final to secure the victory in the men's events while Olympic silver medalist Kober defeated Marion Kreiner of Austria in the women's final. Thursday's win gave Grabner an early overall standings leadership of 1000 points, followed by Simon Schoch, who has 800. Marc Iselin, Schoch's compatriot, is third with 600 points. On the women's side, Kober held the standings lead with 1000 points while Kreiner has 800. Heidi Neururer of Austria is third with 600 points. The Dutch meet was the first of 31 events to be held across 12 countries.
■ Golf
Woods opts out of Classic
Tiger Woods has decided not to enter the Funai Classic at Disney. Woods missed the cut at Disney last year, so this is the third straight US PGA Tour event to which he will not return the year after missing the cut. The others were the 1997 Canadian Open and last year's Byron Nelson Championship. That streak is sure to end next year at the US Open, where he missed the cut at Winged Foot for the first time in a major. Woods has won six consecutive starts on the PGA Tour, and it will be at least two weeks before he tries for No. 7. He likely will not play again until the season-ending Tour Championship that starts on Nov. 2 at East Lake, although Woods has not said for sure he is playing.
■ Soccer
Sun vows not to shave
China international Sun Jihai has said he will not shave until he returns to the first team at Premiership club Manchester City, he told Sky Sports on Friday. The 29-year defender said: "One day I was a little bit lazy and didn't shave the beard and she [his wife] said `that's okay you look good, maybe you can change your image.'""I tried it and I want to keep the beard until I play my first game. I don't think it's good for me. After I play the first game I will cut it off, and my hair as well to make me more handsome."
■ Basketball
Nets suffer injury blows
New Jersey Nets guard Eddie House has a torn meniscus and will have arthroscopic surgery on the troublesome left knee, the NBA team said on Friday. House, a free agent signed by the Nets on Aug. 17, will have the operation tomorrow. House averaged a career-high 9.8 points in 81 games for the Phoenix Suns last season. Entering his seventh season, he has averaged 7.3 points in 378 games. Also on Friday, the Nets announced that forward Darvin Ham has a strained right calf. Ham, who suffered the injury in a preseason game at Indiana on Wednesday, will be out indefinitely.
■ Badminton
Lin Dan makes Japan final
World champion Lin Dan of China defeated Denmark's Peter Gade yesterday to advance to the final of the Japan Open badminton tournament. Top-seeded Lin posted a 21-12, 21-14 win over third-seeded European champion Gade in a match that lasted just 33 minutes at Tokyo's Metropolitan Gymnasium. Lin will face Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat in today's final. Hidayat downed second-seeded Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 21-17, 21-13. In the women's semi-finals, China's Zhang Ning defeated compatriot Zhu Lin 21-18, 21-16 to set up a final with Xie Xingfang of China, who posted a 21-16, 21-16 win over Hong Kong's Wang Chen.
■ NFL
Rolle fined for facemask pull
The NFL fined Arizona cornerback Antrel Rolle US$12,500 on Friday for his facemask foul against Larry Johnson of Kansas City on Sunday. Johnson caught a short pass from Damon Huard and turned it into a 78-yard gain to the Arizona 9-yard line with 2:31 left in the fourth quarter. Johnson would have likely made it to the end zone if Rolle had not grabbed him by the facemask and twisted his head backward. At first it appeared that Johnson had suffered a serious injury.
He was down on the field for a few minutes before getting to his feet and wobbling to the sidelines. The injury was diagnosed as a neck strain and Johnson, the reigning AFC rushing champion, is listed as probable for this weekend's game at Pittsburgh. It marked the second time this season that Rolle, a first-round pick last year, has been fined by the league for an excessive hit. In a Sept. 17 game at Seattle, Rolle was fined US$5,000 for an illegal tackle on running back Shaun Alexander, although he was not penalized on the play.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and