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■ Cycling
Belgian attempts suicide
Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke is recovering in an Italian hospital after an apparent suicide attempt, hospital officials and his team's director said on Thursday. Vandenbroucke, 32, was brought to the Fornaroli hospital outside Milan on Wednesday. The hospital said his life was not in danger. Citing privacy rules, officials declined to provide details about the suicide attempt. Acqua & Sapone team director Palmiro Masciarelli said Vandenbroucke was depressed because his wife had left him. Masciarelli said the cyclist tried to cut a vein but just made some "harmless cuts" on his arm. Italian media reported that he has been depressed since police found illegal performance-enhancing substances during a raid on his home in 2002. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service in 2004.

■ Olympics
Tokyo to bid for 2016 Games
Tokyo will bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) on Thursday notified the International Olympic Committee of its intention to offer Tokyo as a candidate to host the games. JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda and Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara both submitted letters of intent to IOC President Jacques Rogge. It is the first formal procedure in the process of making a bid for the Olympics with the IOC. Tokyo hosted the Summer Games in 1964.

■ Basketball
NBA sets attendance record
National Basketball Association games set an attendance record for the fourth season in a row with more than 23 million tickets purchased, the league announced on Thursday. The combined regular season and playoff attendance total of 23,362,721 entering game one of the NBA Finals in San Antonio, Texas, on Thursday passed the 23,347,135 mark set last season. The playoff average, now at 20,016 a game, will exceed 20,000 for only the second time in NBA history, falling short of the mark of 20,565 a game from 2001 when the Spurs played seven games at the much larger Alamodome stadium.
There were 600 regular-season sellouts and 73 playoff sellouts.
"I think it will continue to grow," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "Breaking the attendance mark for the fourth straight season reflects the NBA's popularity."

■ Basketball
Magic hires Stan Van Gundy
The NBA's Orlando Magic named Stan Van Gundy coach on Thursday, less than 24 hours after agreeing to let Billy Donovan out of his contract to return to the college game. Van Gundy became the ninth coach in Magic franchise history. Orlando did not disclose terms of the deal, which was struck a day after the team released Donovan from a five-year, US$27.5 million contract. The move ended a week-long saga surrounding Donovan, who was lured from the University of Florida but had a change of heart over the weekend and asked to be released from his contract. Van Gundy served as the coach of the Miami Heat from 2003 through December 2005, posting a 112-73 record in the regular season and a 17-11 postseason mark.

■ Soccer
Ze Roberto set to return
Brazilian Ze Roberto is set to rejoin Bayern Munich next season, the club's general manager Uli Hoeness said on Thursday. Ze Roberto joined Brazilian club Santos when his contract with Bayern ended last June having made 83 appearances and scored six goals since signing for the German club in 2002 after four seasons at Bayer Leverkusen. "We have an initial agreement with him but there are some details to sort out," Hoeness said.

■ Soccer
Alonso signs new deal
Liverpool's Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso has signed a new five-year deal that keeps him at Anfield until 2012, the Premier League club said yesterday. He is the fourth Liverpool player to sign a long-term deal this week after Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher agreed four-year contracts and goalkeeper Pepe Reina signed for five. "I knew there was interest from other clubs but it was always my idea to stay here," Alonso, 25, said on the club's Web site. "I want to be part of what lies ahead because I know it is going to be exciting."

■ Cricket
Kallis to lead South Africa
All-rounder Jacques Kallis will lead a new-look South African squad on a short tour to Ireland this month. Kallis will stand in as captain for Graeme Smith, who is recovering from a knee operation and will miss the tour. All-rounder Shaun Pollock, who is currently playing in the Afro-Asia Cup in India, was not considered, a Cricket South Africa statement said on Thursday. South Africa will play one match against Ireland and three against India in the Belfast tournament. Selection convenor Haroon Lorgat said South Africa wanted to use the event to experiment with their player options. The squad includes two uncapped players in all-rounder Vernon Philander and off-spinner Thandi Tshabalala. Relatively inexperienced international players including batsman JP Duminy, fast bowler Dale Steyn and wicketkeeper Morne van Wyk have also been selected. "The potential and performances of these players were carefully monitored in the past by the selection panel and now is the right time to introduce them into the national squad," Lorgat said. The tournament starts on June 23 and ends on July 1.

■ Rugby Union
Wallabies warned to behave
An advance party of Wallabies traveling to Cape Town for next week's Tri-Nations opener with South Africa have been warned to be on their best behavior, reports said yesterday. The warning follows previous controversies involving Australian rugby tourists in the city, including one player who was sent home. Six Wallabies will miss the Test with Fiji in Perth today as they travel to Cape Town to prepare for next Saturday's Tri-Nations opener against South Africa at Newlands. Rocky Elsom, Mark Gerrard, Matt Giteau, Wycliff Palu, Nathan Sharpe and Guy Shepherdson will be accompanied by three team officials. The rest of the Wallabies travel tomorrow. The Wallabies were recently warned by team management that they will not accept any form of bad behavior on tour reports said. The squad's last trip to Cape Town in 2005 was a nightmare, capped off by scrum-half Matt Henjak becoming the first Wallaby sent home from a tour in 39 years. This followed a nightclub incident in which Henjak reportedly threw the contents of a glass at other patrons.


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