■ Soccer
Guti, Carlos ink contracts
Midfielder Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez and defender Roberto Carlos have agreed to extend their contracts with Real Madrid. The 30-year-old Guti extended his contract from 2008 to 2010, while the 33-year-old Roberto Carlos added one season and will finish his contract in 2008, Madrid said on Monday. The Brazilian will have an option to sign for another season. The contracts were to be signed after yesterday's Champions League match against Lyon.
■ Soccer
Adu on trial with United
American teenager Freddy Adu began a two-week trial with English Premier League club Manchester United on Monday. The 17-year-old Adu took part in training with players from the club's youth academy. Man United's senior squad left Monday for Glasgow, Scotland, for its Champions League match against Celtic yesterday. As Adu does not have a British work permit, he is not able to play in a competitive match. Under FIFA transfer rules, Adu, who plays for MLS club D.C. United, is not allowed to transfer to a club outside the US until he turns 18 on June 2 next year. Chelsea has also expressed interest in possibly signing Adu one day.
■ Rugby Union
Pelous, Elissalde out
Captain Fabien Pelous and scrumhalf Jean-Baptiste Elissalde are out of France's rugby union international against Argentina on Saturday. Pelous has not played since breaking a rib in the 47-3 defeat against the All Blacks on Nov. 11. Raphael Ibanez, who led France in its 23-11 loss to New Zealand at the weekend, will remain captain, the French team said on Monday. Elissalde sustained a calf injury in the second game against New Zealand and will be replaced by Pierre Mignoni, the 17-cap scrumhalf with Clermont. Mignoni made his only international appearance this year in France's 62-14 romp over Romania in June.
■ Motorsport
Imola refurbishment begins
Refurbishment work at the Imola race track, venue of the San Marino Grand Prix, has started. The media box and paddock were razed with explosives on Sunday as part of a 10 million euro (US$12.8 million) overhaul of the deteriorating facilities at the 56-year-old track. Imola, which hosted its first Formula One Grand Prix in 1980, was dropped from next year's race calendar for the first time. It's hoping to get back on the calendar.
■ Olympics
Deripaska bets on Sochi
A company controlled by Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska bought the Sochi airport on Monday at a government auction, hoping the city will win the right to stage the 2014 Winter Olympics. Trade and Economic Development Ministry official Igor Konkov said the investment was promising given Sochi's strong Olympic bid, according to RIA-Novosti. Deripaska's holding company, an affiliate of Basic Element, paid 5.5 billion rubles (US$206 million) for the airport.
■ College football
Game floods cell networks
Michigan wasn't the only loser in Saturday's football game against Ohio State: Cellphone users had difficulty making or receiving calls in the packed Ohio Stadium. A crowd of 105,708 inside the stadium and tens of thousands of fans surrounding it flooded cell suppliers during the game, stretching the capabilities of the networks, major providers said. Verizon, which brought in a portable call relayer or "cell on wheels," had a 60 percent increase in the traffic it typically handles in the area on non-game days, spokesman Don Carretta said on Monday. He was not aware of any customer complaints and the number of calls was not unusual for a game, concert or other large-scale public event, he said. "Any event where you have a large volume of people in a small area, you have problems," Carretta said. Cingular also anticipated the crush of calls and wheeled in a mobile cell site, said Chris Bondurant, executive director of network services.
■ Tennis
Russia's cup team named
Marat Safin and Nikolay Davydenko will play for Russia in the Davis Cup final against Argentina. Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov will also be on the team, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. Both teams were due to be officially announced by the International Tennis Federation yesterday. The final is scheduled for Dec. 1 to Dec. 3 and will be played on carpet at the Olympic Indoor Stadium in Moscow.
■ Boxing
Hatton to hit Vegas
British fighter Ricky Hatton will challenge Colombia's Juan Urango for his former IBF light-welterweight title in Las Vegas on Jan. 20. Hatton relinquished the WBA welterweight title he won by beating Luis Collazo in Boston in May. He is moving up a division to try to reclaim the IBF crown he took from Kostya Tszyu in June last year. Hatton hopes to line up a fight against former two-time WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo, who is scheduled to appear on the same card in Las Vegas. It will be Hatton's first fight in the city. "It was always one of my goals to top the bill in Las Vegas," he said on Monday. "The era of Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran was what got me into boxing and all their fights were there." The unbeaten Urango claimed the vacant IBF title with a win over Naoufel Ben Rabah last June in Hollywood, Florida.
■ College Football
Talley closes in on record
John Talley only wishes his Duke team could have enjoyed his success. The senior cornerback had a spectacular season, but the Blue Devils suffered through a woeful one (0-11, 0-7). They've lost 19 straight and haven't beaten a Division I-A team in more than two years. Talley leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with seven interceptions and is tied for fourth nationally. "It's real tough, because I'm not one to brag or boast about my individual stats," Talley said Monday. "I'd love to have the wins instead of personal success." Talley enters his final college game against rival North Carolina with 18 career interceptions, two shy of the record held by the Tar Heels' Dre Bly. He might have a shot to tie or surpass that mark, because no ACC team has thrown more interceptions than the Tar Heels No. 17. "He's a guy who hasn't really ever wavered," coach Ted Roof said. "He's only gotten stronger and better in the way that he works and the way that he approaches the game."
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