Print

Mail

wiki links

Sports Briefs

■ SQUASH

England claim world title

England came from behind to defeat Australia 2-1 to capture their second successive World Men's Team Squash Championship title on Wednesday. This was England's sixth title after wins in 1976, 1979, 1995, 1997 and 2005. England were on the back foot after Nick Mathew lost to Australia's No. 1 player David Palmer 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2, 4-11, but James Willstrop levelled the final defeating Stewart Boswell 11-8, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0). That left it all down to Peter Barker who came good for the defending champions with a 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 win over Cameron Pilley.



■ FORMULA ONE

Rosberg extends contract

Nico Rosberg will drive for the Williams Formula One team through the 2009 season. Rosberg was already confirmed for next season and extended the contract for another year after talks with team chief Frank Williams. "I first tested for Williams when I was 17, so our relationship is now five years old and I'm happy to maintain this relationship and have the chance to help push the team further toward the front of the grid," Rosberg said in an interview posted on the Williams Web site on Wednesday.



■ GYMNASTICS

Gold medalist Ponor retires

Triple Olympic champion Catalina Ponor has decided to retire for health reasons, a Romanian Gymnastics Federation (FRG) official said on Wednesday. "Ponor has failed to overcome her back problems, so she has decided to put an end to her activity as an athlete," FRG president Adrian Stoica told reporters. Now 20, she led Romania to the team title at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and also won individual gold medals in the balance beam and floor exercises. She also won five European championship gold medals from 2004 to last year. Ponor had previously retired last year but changed her mind several months later and went on to compete at this year's world championships in Germany, with the aim of going through to next year's Olympic Games.



■ SOCCER

Indonesian teams excluded

Indonesian teams have been excluded from next year's AFC Champions League, dealing another blow to a sport in crisis in the world's fourth most populous country. The Asian Football Confederation cited the late completion of Indonesia's domestic league and cup competitions as the reason, with the slots instead going to Thai Premier League runners-up Krung Thai Bank and Vietnam Cup holders Nam Dinh. The Indonesian league season kicked off in February but was halted from May to August for the Asian Cup and again in September for Ramadan, making for a backlog of matches.



■ CRICKET

Promote Clarke, Warne says

Michael Clarke should be groomed to take over from Ricky Ponting as Australia's next cricket captain, retired spinner Shane Warne said. Warne said the Australian selectors should ditch Adam Gilchrist as vice-captain and give the job to Clarke to help prepare him to eventually take over from Ponting. "To me the next logical step is to groom him. I believe the best way to do this would be to elevate him to the vice-captaincy in all forms of the game," Warne wrote in his weekly column for Sydney's Daily Telegraph on Thursday. "Gilly has done a wonderful job but won't be around for too much longer in all forms of the game. I reckon he will hang the gloves up and decide to play only one form, probably Test matches.
This story has been viewed 916 times.