■ Basketball
Villanueva out
The Milwaukee Bucks will have to press on without power forward Charlie Villanueva who has a torn ligament in his left elbow and will be sidelined at least four weeks. Villanueva, 22, suffered the injury in the second quarter of Milwaukee's 103-101 NBA win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. Villanueva is averaging 14.6 points and 7.4 rebounds in eight games this season.
■ Golf
Clarke to miss PGA
Ryder Cup star Darren Clarke has pulled out of next month's Australian PGA Championship so he can spend more time with his children following the death of his wife. Clarke's wife Heather died of breast cancer in August. The Northern Ireland golfer informed tournament organizers that he is not up to making the trip to Australia. "He's just emotionally exhausted and he needs to spend time at home with his children," tournament spokesman John Dunlop said yesterday.
■ Baseball
Santana nabs AL Cy Young
Johan Santana won the AL Cy Young Award on Thursday for the second time in three years, and the Minnesota Twins' ace was a unanimous choice once again. Santana received all 28 first-place votes for a perfect total of 140 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Santana separated himself from the competition during a dominant season, going 19-6 with a 2.77 ERA and 245 strikeouts to lead Minnesota to the AL Central title.
■ Rallying
Gronholm ahead in NZ
Finland's Marcus Gronholm won all five stages on the first day of the 17-stage Rally of New Zealand yesterday to close in on his fourth New Zealand title and tighten Ford's grip on the world manufacturers' crown. By the end of the fifth stage, a 3.14km super special at the rally's Mystery Creek headquarters near Hamilton on New Zealand's North Island, Gronholm led Hirvonen by 31.2 seconds. Seven-time world motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi, driving a privately-owned Subaru, spun on the first stage, completing the 20.38km section more than 2 1/2 minutes slower than Gronholm. By the end of the day, Rossi was almost 11 minutes behind.
■ Boxing
Velazquez takes WBC title
Hector Velazquez of Mexico beat Bobby Pacquiao of the Philippines by disqualification in the 11th round on Thursday to capture the WBC super featherweight championship. Velazquez won after suffering a low blow at 2:56 of the 11th round, which prompted the referee to halt the close bout. Pacquiao had one point deducted in the third and fifth rounds for low blows, helping precipitate the referee's decision. Pacquiao, who had a five-inch reach advantage, knocked down Velazquez in the third round with an uppercut to the head. Velazquez now has a record of 46-11-2 with 32 KOs.
■ Soccer
FIFA rejects requests
FIFA, world soccer's governing body, has rejected requests by Turkish club Galatasaray for 10 million euros (US$12.8 million) compensation after French international midfielder Franck Ribery left them, his club Marseille said in a statement on Thursday. In June last year, Galatasaray requested that Ribery should return, denying he had not been paid for three months by the Istanbul club. Galatasaray had signed Ribery in January last year for three and a half years from French first division club Metz but he joined Marseille in June, when he was still just an under-21 international, on a four-year contract.
■ Soccer
Sanchez to coach Mexico
Former Real Madrid striker Hugo Sanchez was appointed Mexico's national team coach on Thursday, selected in a unanimous vote of Mexico's 18 first-division clubs. Sanchez was chosen after Argentine Americo Gallego withdrew his name from consideration late on Wednesday, said Decio de Maria, secretary-general of Mexico's soccer federation. Considered by many the best player in Mexican history, Sanchez lobbied hard for the position.
■ Cricket
Clarke vows to regain place
Michael Clarke has vowed to fight his way back into the Australian team after being left out of the squad for the first Ashes Test against England next week. The 25-year-old said he was not surprised at being omitted after the selectors opted for all rounder Shane Watson as a counter to England's Andrew Flintoff. "The type of person I am I expected not to be picked, so it wasn't too much of a surprise -- a couple of sleepless nights waiting to find out," he told reporters yesterday. Clarke, regarded as Australia's brightest new hope since scoring a century on his Test debut against India two years ago, said he had spoken to the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch about what he needed to do to play Test cricket.
■ Rugby
Dates set for 2011 Cup
The 2011 World Cup in New Zealand will take place in September and October, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) said yesterday. The exact dates of the tournament have not yet been decided. "We are committed to staging the best Rugby World Cup possible. The confirmation of the tournament timing is ideal for us in terms of weather considerations and the opportunities to showcase New Zealand at that time of the year," New Zealand 2011 Ltd chairman Jock Hobbs said in a statement. France will stage the sixth Rugby World Cup next year, with the hosts playing Argentina in the first match on Sept. 7 in Paris.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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