■ CricketBangladesh start well
Bangladeshi spinners restricted Zimbabwe to 184-9 in the first limited overs international in southwestern Khulna yesterday. Abdur Razzak snared four wickets and he was well supported by fellow spinners Mohammad Rafique and Sakib Al Hasan who each grabbed two wickets. Rafique became the first Bangladeshi bowler to get 100 wickets, in 104 matches, after dismissing Brendan Taylor who topscored with 38. Taylor and another opener Stuart Matsikinyeri (27) gave Zimbabwe a solid start after captain Prosper Utseya won the toss and opted to bat first at Bir Shrestha Shaheed Matiur Rahman Stadium.
■ Basketball
Jackson fined after outburst
Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson was fined US$25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for criticizing referees after a 114-108 loss to the Utah Jazz last Friday. Jackson was quoted in several newspapers about the way the officials -- Derrick Stafford, Derek Richardson and Leroy Richardson -- handled second-year center Andrew Bynum. "The league throws out some referee corps that you're dubious about to start with and, you know, the game ends up to be like that," he said. Each team was called for 26 fouls.
■ Boxing
Kronk forced to close
The Kronk Gym, the dingy basement that helped produce world boxing champions Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya, has closed. Champions Thomas Hearns and Lennox Lewis also trained at Emanuel Steward's gym, which had been struggling after thieves stole copper pipes in September, cutting off its water supply. Steward had been paying to keep the Kronk running for months after Detroit shut down the recreation center that houses it because of a budget shortfall. Some of the world champions tutored by Steward at the gym included Dennis Andries, Alexis Arguello, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jeff Fenech, Oliver McCall, Gerald McClellan, Milton McCrory, Welcome N'cita, Aaron Pryor, Graciano Rocchigiani, Leon Spinks, Duane Thomas, and Vitali Klitschko.
■ Horse racing
Fallon gets six-month ban
Jockey Kieren Fallon was suspended from racing for six months on Wednesday after testing positive for a banned substance. Henri Pouret of France Galop said Fallon failed a doping test at the Prix Jean Prat on July 9. Both samples were positive, but Pouret did not say what substance was found in his system. Fallon has the right to appeal, Pouret said. Earlier this year, the Irish jockey was caught in a race-fixing case. After losing an appeal in July, he will not be allowed to ride in Britain until the end of his trial next year. Fallon is still licensed to ride in other countries, but his lawyer, David Pannick, has said the ban would "effectively end his career." Fallon, who became champion jockey for the first time in 1997, won the English Derby in 1999, 2003 and 2004.
■ Libya
Sampdoria to pick Qaddafi
The son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is training with Sampdoria this week and will play in a friendly for the Serie A club next year. Saadi Qaddafi, who had previously made one substitute appearance each for Perugia and Udinese in the Serie A, will play for Sampdoria against a northern African team on either Jan. 5 or 6 or Feb. 14. "I want to thank Garrone and Sampdoria for this possibility, which strengthens the already optimal relations between my family and the Garrone family," Qaddafi said. "It will also add to the political and economic relations between Italy and Libya." Sampdoria president Riccardo Garrone's oil company Erg has strong relations with Libya.
■ Australia
Hiddink mulls return
Dutch coach Guus Hiddink has not ruled out a return as coach of Australia for the 2010 World Cup, according to local media. Hiddink, who was at the helm as Australia reached the second round of the World Cup finals in Germany earlier this year, is now in charge of Russia but says he is eager to coach at the next finals in South Africa. "Anything is possible as I have a plan to coach at the World Cup in 2010 and of course my contract with Russia is until the middle of 2008," Hiddink was reported as saying. "After that who knows what will happen? Australia have continued to improve since I have left and that's good to see. I still follow them very closely. I have ruled out nothing at this stage. I have great thoughts of my time with the Socceroos and great respect for the team," he said.
■ United Kingdom
Court clears Welsh star
A court has cleared Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy of assaulting two women in a nightclub. The Wales international was accused of assaulting Sophie Palmer and Holly Smith at the No. 10 nightclub in Cardiff in February. But district judge John Charles said on Wednesday there were "serious discrepancies" in the prosecution's case and the two charges were dismissed. Palmer, 19, told the court Bellamy grabbed her around the throat and held her against a wall after they exchanged angry words in a corridor at the club. Smith, 18, accused him of grabbing her by the wrist. Bellamy said neither assault took place. He said he and Palmer made eye contact in the corridor and, when she asked him what he was looking at, he replied: "Not you. If I was looking at anyone it would be those two girls over there. They're far prettier than you."
■ Chile
Colo Colo fans run riot
Police used water cannon on Wednesday to disperse thousands of angry Colo Colo supporters who had missed out on a chance to buy tickets for the final of the Copa Sudamericana. Some 7,000 fans waited for hours outside the club's stadium in Santiago but when tickets went on sale, they were snapped up in less than an hour leaving some fans disappointed. They refused to leave, prompting police to use water cannon. One fan was injured when he fell in front of a moving car during the chaos, a photographer at the stadium said. The fans were looking for tickets to the second leg of the final of the Copa, the region's equivalent of the UEFA Cup. Colo Colo, the first Chilean team to make a regional final in 13 years, take on Mexico's Pachuca in the first leg in Mexico today before hosting the return on Dec. 13.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later