■ SKING
Morgenstern wins again
Austria's double Olympic champion Thomas Morgenstern reinforced his World Cup victory bid by claiming his fourth consecutive ski jump victory of the season on Thursday. The 21-year-old produced jumps of 94.5m and 96m on the small hill in Villach, Austria, to claim a total of 254.5 points and maintain his perfect start to the season. That left flying Finn Janne Ahonen in second place with 243.5 points, with another Austrian, Gregor Schlierenzauer, claiming 242.5. After just four of 28 events Morgenstern has 400 points, Schlierenzauer is in second on 219 with Norwegian Tom Hilde on 196, with a 12-point cushion on Ahonen.
■ CRICKET
Twenty20 qualifiers planned
Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland will clash in Belfast next August in the inaugural World Twenty20 qualifier with the top two sides booking places in the 2009 world championship. As well as taking part in the finals, to be staged in England, the two successful teams will also stand to win US$250,000 each for qualifying.
■ BOXING
Pain no barrier to Abraham
World champion Arthur Abraham has again proved pain is no barrier after revealing on Thursday he beat Britain's Wayne Elcock last weekend despite fracturing ribs in pre-fight training. The 27-year-old IBF middleweight champ told German tabloid Bild how he stopped Elcock in the fifth round in Basle last Saturday despite fracturing two ribs in training, which caused him considerable pain in the ring. Berlin-based Arthur was unable to throw any strong punches against Elcock with his preferred fist, relying almost exclusively on his left. "The injury happened in training," Abraham said. "I didn't want to call off the fight under any circumstances and just gritted my teeth."
■ TUNA THROWING
Frozen fish to be replaced
Australia's competition to see how far someone can throw a tuna will be missing something next year -- the fish. Organizers of the Tunarama Festival held each January in Port Lincoln on the remote Eyre Peninsula are replacing the real thing with polyurethane replicas for the highlight event, the frozen tuna toss. Each year, contestants in four categories hurl fish weighing up to 10kg as far as they can, usually using a technique akin to an Olympic hammer thrower. The fake fish have been sculpted by a locally born artist to look just like the real thing. "The dimensions are perfect," said Merriwyne Hore, the acting manager of next year's festival. "We road tested it with one of our champions. He had a few throws and he was really impressed. It felt good, very balanced."
■ OLYMPICS
Rights petition handed in
Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng (魏京生) delivered a petition to the International Olympic Committee on Thursday to call for the respect of human rights in China during the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. "The government must liberate political prisoners and guarantee freedom of expression," said Wei, considered the father of the democracy movement in China, after handing over the petition at IOC headquarters. The petition, signed by more than 11,000 Chinese, is significant because they signed their real names, Wei said, as he called on the IOC to put pressure on the Chinese government to respect human rights.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care