■ RUGBY UNION
Bergamasco apologizes
Italy flanker Mauro Bergamasco has apologized for the eye-gouging incident in the 47-8 defeat by Wales on Feb. 23 that cost him a 13-week ban. Bergamasco was found guilty by a Six Nations disciplinary commission on Wednesday of deliberately placing his finger in the eye of Wales fullback Lee Byrne and was suspended until June 2. He will miss the rest of the tournament. "I apologize to the person concerned, Lee Byrne, to my fans, my teammates, my club Stade Francais and the Italian Rugby Federation," the 28-year-old said on his Web site. "I realize that what happened does not reflect the values and principles of rugby and of sport in general. I'd like to say that I did not want to cause any damage with the gesture I committed, even though it was serious."
■ CRICKET
Elliott gets Black Cap call
Uncapped South African-born allrounder Grant Elliott was named in a 13-man New Zealand cricket squad for the first of three Tests against England starting at Hamilton on Wednesday. Elliott, 28, is a right-hand middle order batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler who was born in Johannesburg and played at under-19 level for South Africa. His selection yesterday came largely at the expense of Peter Fulton, who has been dropped from the New Zealand squad after an extended period of poor form. Jamie How was named to partner Matthew Bell at the top of the New Zealand order, replacing Craig Cumming, and Ross Taylor returns to the Test squad after missing New Zealand's most recent series against Bangladesh. Iain O'Brien was named as the squad's third seam bowler.
■ SOCCER
Chelsea ban Greek names
Chelsea has banned supporters with Greek names from buying home tickets for Wednesday's Champions League match against Olympiakos. "Nonmembers of a Greek nationality buying tickets for the Olympiakos game will have their orders canceled," the Chelsea Web site said on Friday. Chelsea fan Peter Pakos paid £100 (US$199) for two tickets for the second-round match at Stamford Bridge via the club's official Web site, but was later sent an e-mail canceling the order. "It's incredible discrimination," Pakos said. "It's shortsighted and clumsy. We may have a Greek background, but we're Chelsea fans through and through." Chelsea said large numbers of Olympiakos fans were trying to buy tickets in the area reserved for Blues supporters. "Chelsea Football Club has discretion to put measures in place to ensure segregation," a London Metropolitan police force spokesman said.
■ SOCCER
Berlin defeat Duisburg
Goals by Marko Pantelic and Raffael lifted Hertha Berlin to a 2-0 win and dumped MSV Duisburg into last place in the Bundesliga on Friday. The two forwards set up each other with Raffael scoring in the 34th minute and Pantelic in the 37th minute as Berlin ran their unbeaten streak to four games in pouring rain. Duisburg dropped into the cellar -- at least until yesterday's matches. Berlin put on one of its best attacking games of the season in pouring rain in front of 32,382 spectators at Olympic Stadium. Raffael, a forward Favre demanded from management, recorded his third goal in five games since joining Berlin from FC Zurich. His header ricocheted off the crossbar to Pantelic, whose pass to him left him clear for a shot inside the left post. Duisburg were still reeling when Raffael passed to Pantelic, who scored his 10th goal and helped his case for a contract extension.
■ TENNIS
Luzzi banned for betting
Italy's world No. 139 Federico Luzzi on Friday became the latest player to be banned for betting on matches after being found guilty of gambling on 836 matches, the ATP announced. The 28-year-old, who plays mostly on the Challenger circuit, was suspended for 200 days and fined US$50,000, a huge amount for a journeyman competitor who has earned just over US$500,000 during his nine years on tour. The ATP found no evidence of any attempt by Luzzi to affect the outcome of any tennis match. Luzzi is the fifth Italian player to be hit with a betting suspension. In December, Potito Starace was suspended for six weeks and fined US$30,000 while Daniele Bracciali was banned for three months and fined US$20,000. Alessio Di Mauro was banned for nine months in November for betting on matches while last month Giorgio Galimberti, the world 1010, was banned for 100 days.
■ TENNIS
Nalbandian makes final
Top-seeded David Nalbandian defeated former champion Luis Horna 7-5, 6-1 at the Abierto Mexicano to reach his second final in as many weeks on Friday. In the final, Nalbandian will play sixth-seeded Nicolas Almagro, who prevented a repeat of last Sunday's Buenos Aires final by edging unseeded Jose Acasuso of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Also, women's top seed Flavia Pennetta advanced to her fifth consecutive final in Acapulco, where she'll meet No. 2-seed Alize Cornet. Nalbandian, who won in Buenos Aires before home fans last weekend, has won 10 straight matches.
■ TENNIS
Lucky loser eyes title
Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic took seven match points to beat fellow Croatian Mario Ancic 7-6 (2), 6-4 and reach his third consecutive Zagreb Indoors final on Friday. In the other semi-final, 209th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine defeated Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-4, 6-4 to became the first lucky loser from qualifying to make an ATP final since Sweden's Nicklas Kulti at 1999 Halle. Stakhovsky slotted into the main draw after Michael Llodra, last week's Rotterdam winner, withdrew. "It's like a dream," Stakhovsky said, adding he will send a text message to Llodra to thank him for withdrawing. Ljubicic, ranked 25th, will be playing for his ninth career title. Stakhovsky will play in his first final. The last time a lucky loser won an ATP title was 1991 in Sao Paulo by Christian Miniussi of Argentina.
■ Golf
Ochoa extends lead
World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa stretched her lead to eight shots with a three-under-par 69 in the third round of the US$2 million HSBC Women's Champions tournament in Singapore yesterday. The Mexican delivered her least convincing performance of the week with a clutch of wayward tee shots and an embarrassing two-foot putt for par at the 17th that rolled four feet past, but her supreme scrambling skills kept her rivals at bay. With Ochoa the runaway leader on 16 under par, American Paula Creamer and Swede Annika Sorenstam are a distant second on eight under, with Australian Karrie Webb a shot further back and America's Laura Diaz on five under. Ochoa was one of just four players who shot under 70 on a day when blustery winds and sporadic rain made for testing conditions at the Tanah Merah Country Club. She is also the only player to shoot sub-70 scores for the first three rounds of the event.
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early yesterday morning marathon to Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina of Spain, while the UK’s Emma Raducanu and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez reached the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to the semi-final against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six
Ben O’Connor won Thursday’s monster Alpine stage to the ski resort of Courchevel as three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar responded to attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and dropped him to cement his grip on the yellow jersey. With just three stages left before the race ends in Paris, Pogacar looks poised to retain his title, with a comfortable lead of more than 4 minutes over Vingegaard, a two-time champion. Stage 18 featured three extremely difficult ascents, including the 26.4km climb of the Col de La Loze to the finish. At 2,304m, La Loze is the highest summit in this year’s Tour. Two
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