■ Rugby Union
Simon Webster ruled out
Scotland winger Simon Webster was ruled out of this weekend's Six Nations match against Italy with a left ankle injury. Webster was hurt while playing for Edinburgh on Friday. "Simon Webster won't make it this weekend. It's unfortunate for Simon but that's the way it goes," Scotland coach Frank Hadden said on Monday. "Nobody will be more disappointed than Simon because he was relishing the opportunity to get game time." Webster played as a replacement in Scotland's 21-9 win over Wales on Feb. 10 after returning from a two months out with a right ankle injury. He was expected to play in Saturday's match against Italy at Murrayfield.
■ Football
Chargers hire Turner
Norv Turner got his third shot at a NFL head coaching job when he was hired by the San Diego Chargers on Monday, a week after the surprise firing of Marty Schottenheimer. Turner, the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator, was the only one of the six candidates who's been a NFL head coach, and the only one who didn't work on the defensive side of the ball. He was fired by the Oakland Raiders in 2005 after going 9-23 in two seasons. He inherits a team that was a NFL-best 14-2 last season but melted down in its playoff opener, a 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots.
■ Cricket
Flowers rule out return
Brothers Andy and Grant Flower are still not interested in returning to the Zimbabwe cricket team as long as the present administration remains. The brothers were speaking on Monday after playing for the World XI against the West Indies All Stars as part of the reopening of Kensington Oval on Saturday. "I walked away because of the state of affairs and not much has changed," former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower said. "Since then it has gone further downhill. I don't believe things will change unless the government changes, so that's the stage we are at."
■ Horse Racing
Virus threatens HK season
Hong Kong's lucrative horse racing season faces shutdown after a highly contagious virus was found in one of the city's top stables, a report said yesterday. Four horses from trainer John Moore's stable were pulled from yesterday evening's races and put into isolation after they began showing symptoms of the virus, the South China Morning Post reported. The report didn't name the virus but said it had spread quickly throughout Moore's horses. Another five of Moore's horses and three ponies owned by Hong Kong racing's governing body, the Jockey Club, are also beginning to show symptoms, it said.
■ Soccer
United may play in Macau
English Premier League leaders Manchester United may play this summer in Macau in an exhibition match to celebrate the opening of a new casino resort, a news report said on Tuesday. The Red Devils, who have a massive Chinese fan base, are reportedly being targeted for a match in July or August to coincide with the opening of the US$3.2 billion Venetian Resort. Manchester United has already confirmed they will tour Asia this summer, visiting Japan and South Korea, and the club is due to announce full details of their four-stop tour later this week. Sources said that the team was likely to include Macau in its tour.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but