■ RUGBY UNION
SRU evicts Edinburgh
Edinburgh have been kicked out of Murrayfield and told to repay £1.4 million (US$2.8 million) to the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU). Edinburgh ended their operating agreement with the SRU on Thursday, who reacted by immediately withdrawing use of Murrayfield as a venue for matches and training. The SRU also demanded that their advance funding be handed back as a row sparked by Edinburgh's threat to take court action against the SRU over Magners League and Heineken Cup fees turned increasingly bitter. Edinburgh, one of two professional clubs in Scotland, had already withdrawn 12 players from Scotland training for a week last month. A statement from the SRU said: "Scottish Rugby has confirmed today that the operating agreement between Edinburgh Rugby and Scottish Rugby has been terminated by Edinburgh Rugby."
■ CRICKET
Duo spoils Flintoff's return
Pakistan duo Mushtaq Ahmed and Naved ul-Hasan combined to put Sussex on top of the English county championship on Thursday and spoil Andrew Flintoff's return to duty. Sussex beat Lancashire by 108 runs at Liverpool with Mushtaq Ahmed and Naved ul-Hasan taking four for 71 and three for 10 respectively. Chasing 242 to win, Lancashire were bowled out for just 133 with Flintoff making nine. Earlier, Muttiah Muralitharan took three wickets to finish with eight for the match as Sussex were bowled out for 268 in their second innings. England all-rounder Flintoff is slowly feeling his way back from ankle surgery and is hopeful of returning to the national side in time for the one-day series against India later this month.
■ SOCCER
Becks may debut in Toronto
David Beckham's much anticipated Major League Soccer debut could still come in Toronto today, a Los Angeles Galaxy spokesman said on Thursday. The former England captain has missed the Galaxy's last three games with a nagging ankle injury since his brief debut appearance for the MLS side in a friendly against Chelsea on July 21. He failed to travel with his new teammates to Texas on Tuesday as they completed their SuperLiga group campaign with a thrilling 6-5 win over FC Dallas, instead remaining in Los Angeles for continued treatment. "David will travel to Toronto with the squad on Friday," the Galaxy spokesman said. "None of the squad trained today, they all stayed inside to work on weights in a regeneration session. The decision on whether he will play against Toronto FC will be made once we arrive there."
■ SOCCER
Alex receives work permit
Brazil defender Alex has been given the green light to complete his move to Chelsea after being granted a work permit on Thursday. The Premiership club successfully appealed the British Home Office decision to refuse Alex a permit and he will now fly to England to negotiate personal terms and undergo a medical. Alex, who has spent the last three seasons at Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, had returned to Brazil earlier this week after his aborted attempt to enter the country. A Chelsea statement confirmed: "At a hearing today, Alex was granted a work permit. He still has to agree personal terms with Chelsea Football Club and have a medical."
■ FOOTBALL
Player injures spine
Denver Broncos linebacker Warrick Holdman was hospitalized on Thursday after suffering a spinal cord concussion in practice, the NFL team said. Holdman suffered the injury during a morning workout after appearing to hit the crown of his helmet on another player's helmet, according to multiple reports. A team spokesman said Holdman was transported to hospital, where he was to be kept overnight for observation. "He went numb for about 30 or 40 seconds, but he got his feeling back, which is a good sign," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "But I don't know anything for sure. Normally when someone gets that feeling back, it's usually a positive sign."
■ FORMULA ONE
Team to drop Speed
Scott Speed will not be returning soon as a Toro Rosso driver in races, but could show up in other places for the team that dropped him earlier this week. "He might still be used for testing," Gerhard Berger, co-owner of the Toro Rosso team, said on Thursday at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The only US driver in F1 since 1993, Speed was dropped this week from racing. There were reports of an altercation with team director Franz Tost after Speed crashed out of the last race, the European Grand Prix on July 22, then criticized the team. "I grabbed him on the arm and said, `Please stop,'" Tost said of a heated discussion with Speed in the pits. He added that the decision to drop Speed had already been made.
■ SOCCER
Drinking claims denied
Mario Zagallo, Brazil's assistant coach at last year's World Cup, denied claims by the president of the Brazilian soccer federation that some players returned to the hotel drunk during the tournament. "There was nothing like that," Zagallo told the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper. "We never heard anything about it because it never happened. There was no drinking." On Wednesday, CBF president Ricardo Teixeira told Estado that a group of players lacked discipline during the World Cup and some players "arrived between four and six in the morning, drunk." Teixeira did not single out any individuals. "I don't even believe the president said that," Zagallo said. "And why say it now, almost two years after [the World Cup]? For what?"
■ FORMULA ONE
Driver grilled over gorilla
Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen was grilled by his countrymen at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Thursday about dressing up as a gorilla. Finnish reporters said Ferrari's free-spirited driver and two friends took part in a powerboat race last week in the Finnish harbor city of Hanko while wearing gorilla suits. They then won a prize for the best-dressed crew. Asked about the episode, Raikkonen smiled and said: "Yeah, but was it really me? ... You don't know ... We've got the trophy already. It was just a boat race and we went for fun." Raikkonen, winner of three races already in his first season at Ferrari, is used to such escapades. Earlier in the year, the "Iceman" entered and won a snowmobile race in his homeland under the name of James Hunt, the late British Formula One champion renowned for his wild playboy lifestyle. Ferrari are involved in a bitter row with McLaren, Raikkonen's former team, about leaked information that ended up in the hands of McLaren's suspended chief designer Mike Coughlan.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set