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■ ICE HOCKEY

Selanne to rejoin Anaheim

Finnish all-star Teemu Selanne will rejoin the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks, the National Hockey League club said on Monday. Selanne's decision to return to the club in mid-season comes a month after superstar defenseman Scott Niedermayer ended his semi-retirement. Selanne, who had been an unrestricted free agent after playing a key part on last season's National Hockey League playoffs, signed a one-year contract with the Ducks on Monday. Niedermayer rejoined the Ducks in mid-December after also contemplating retirement. Anaheim has gone 12-5-2 since his return, although the Ducks lost their last three games prior to the all-star break. Selanne, 37, registered 94 points for Anaheim last season, finishing third in the league in goals with 48.



■ GOLF

Wie to start against women

Michelle Wie will begin her golf season in Hawaii for the fifth straight year, this time against the women. Wie accepted a sponsor's exemption on Monday to play in The Fields Open at Ko Olina, hopeful of getting her career back on track after a troublesome season of injuries, missed cuts and withdrawals. An 18-year-old first-year student at Stanford University, Wie has started her season at the Sony Open on the US men's tour the last four years and nearly made the cut as a 14-year-old when she shot a 68. But she has yet to make a cut in seven tries on the US men's tour, and she did not play the Sony Open this year, a sign that she plans to concentrate on the US LPGA Tour while trying to regain her form. The Fields Open, where Wie tied for third two years ago, is held from Feb. 21 to Feb. 23 and is the second event on the US women's tour schedule.



■ TENNIS

Safin recalled for Davis Cup

Russia has recalled Marat Safin for next month's Davis Cup first-round tie against World Group newcomers Serbia. Former world No. 1 Safin skipped last year's final against the US in Portland after struggling to find his top form since coming back from a knee injury. "He's definitely in the team," Shamil Tarpishchev, who doubles as his country's Davis and Fed Cup captain, told reporters on Monday from Israel, where the Russian women play the home side in the first round of the Fed Cup this weekend. Joining Safin for the clash from next Friday to Sunday at Moscow's Luzhniki arena are world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny, who has moved to a career-high eighth in the rankings after reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals.



■ BASKETBALL

Nets' Kidd asks to be traded

New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd has asked to be traded to another National Basketball Association team, US sports network ESPN reported on Monday. According to the report, Kidd said his agent Jeff Schwartz has talked to Nets' management about moving him by the Feb. 21 trade deadline, a conversation that both parties first engaged in at last season's all-star game. Schwartz has reportedly been told by New Jersey that with Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson locked into rich long-term deals, Kidd is the only movable major asset the team has. "I'm not mad at anybody," Kidd said. "Sometimes, when you ride a wave, you get to the end and that's all there is. That's where we are." According to the report, Dallas and Denver have asked about the availability of the eight-time all-star.



■ SOCCER

Beckham plans academy

David Beckham was to announce plans yesterday for his third soccer academy -- the Beckham World of Sport in Brazil, a sports complex that will be located in a soon-to-be-built luxury resort that backers say will be one of the country's largest. The latest David Beckham Academy will be among the highlights of the new development in northeastern Brazil, according to a statement by the Cabo Sao Roque resort, which will be built near the resort city of Natal. Beckham is a partner in the resort project, and will also oversee the academy, a soccer training facility on the resort's grounds. Beckham's academies have already been established in London and at the Home Depot Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, home to the Los Angeles Galaxy and the US national team programs.



■ SOCCER

Mother begs for son

Wigan midfielder Wilson Palacios' mother begged her younger son's kidnappers on Monday to release him after the family reportedly paid a ransom. "Please, you also have a mother ... be compassionate and return my son," Orfilia Cacho said in La Ceiba on Honduras' Atlantic coast. She said she was sure her 16-year-old son, Edwin Rene Palacios, was alive, despite the fact that police are investigating whether he may have been killed. On Oct. 30, five armed assailants abducted Palacios from his family's home in La Ceiba. The victim's family asked police not to intervene, although officials set up a special team of officers to work on the case. Local media reported the family paid a ransom of US$260,000 but there has been no word from the victim or his kidnappers.



■ RUGBY UNION

White misses training

Scotland captain Jason White missed training when the squad gathered on Monday but officials were confident he would be fit to lead the team out for Sunday's Six Nations opener against France at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Scotland. Sale back-row forward White was the only member of the provisional 23-man squad selected by coach Frank Hadden not to train on Monday. But team doctor James Robson said White's injury was no cause for alarm. "Jason took a bang on his leg playing for his club on Friday night," Robson explained in a Scottish Rugby Union statement. "It's a similar injury to that which he sustained before the World Cup and it took two to three days to settle on that occasion and we're anticipating the same sort of timescale this time."



■ CYCLING

Tom Boonen takes the lead

Former world road race champion Tom Boonen took the lead at the 2008 Tour of Qatar after winning the second stage on Monday. Boonen, who won this tour last year, finished the 137.5km course in 2 hours, 28 minutes, 37 seconds. The 27-year-old Belgian took the top spot from Quick Step teammate Matteo Tosatto of Italy. "We attacked from the very first kilometer -- in fact the entire team attacked. There was a real battle during the first 60 kilometers," Boonen said. "It's always fast here, but it is better when you attack yourself. That way, you're sure that you're at the front." Belgian Greg Van Avermaet was second for Silence Lotto and Lampre rider Danilo Napolitano of Italy came third. Tosatto led Quick Step to the team trial win during Sunday's first stage, which was held over 6km near Doha's sea front.
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