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■ TABLE TENNIS

Wang in drunken furor

World No. 1 Wang Hao assaulted a security guard on Thursday in a drunken row that has caused a scandal in his native China, the Beijing News reported on Saturday. The 24-year-old Olympic gold medalist kicked a parking attendant who surprised him as he urinated in the Chinese capital, the daily said, quoting a witness. Another Beijing daily, Fazhi Wanbao, quoted the parking attendant as saying Wang Hao “smelled like he’d fallen into a barrel,” and ran off shouting: “I’m the world champion.” Wang Hao, who last month won the World Cup table tennis championships in Belgium, apologized to his victim after being taken to a local police station.



■ RALLYING

Loeb victorious in Corsica

French Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb, who is chasing a fifth consecutive world crown, won the Rally of Corsica yesterday, the 13th circuit in the 15-race World Rally Championship calendar. Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen and Belgium’s Francois Duval, both driving a Ford Focus, finished second and third respectively. Loeb’s record-setting 46th career win was also his fourth consecutive victory in the Rally of Corsica, nicknamed the “rally of 10,000 corners” for its testing course. It was also the Frenchman’s fifth victory in a row, having already triumphed in the Rallies of Finland, Germany and New Zealand in August and the Rally of Catalonia this month.



■ BOXING

Dawson takes IBF title

Chad Dawson remained unbeaten and captured the International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight title on Saturday with a unanimous 12-round decision over Antonio Tarver. Dawson improved to 27-0 with 17 wins inside the distance, the younger challenger displaying more speed and power than the 39-year-old champion, who fell to 27-5 with 19 wins inside the distance. Dawson, who knocked down Tarver in the 12th round, claimed his second world title, having given up his World Boxing Council light-heavyweight belt in July after three successful defenses. Two of the ringside judges scored the bout 117-110, while a third saw it 118-109 for Dawson.



■ IRONMAN

Aussie triumphs in Hawaii

Australian Craig Alexander won the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on Saturday, improving on his runner-up finish in last year’s edition of the grueling event. Alexander triumphed in 8 hours, 17 minutes, 45 seconds for the 3.8km ocean swim, 180km cycle road race and 42.2km run. “I can’t believe it. It was a hard race,” said Alexander, who was in 11th place at the end of the cycle race and took the lead half-way through the closing marathon run. Spain’s Eneko Llanos Burguera was second and Belgium’s Rutger Beke was third. Alexander became the third Australian man to win the prestigious title, after McCormack and Greg Welch in 1994. Chrissie Wellington of Britain won her second straight women’s title in 9 hours, 6 minutes, 23 seconds.



■ ATHLETICS

Fekadu wins in Melbourne

Asnake Fekadu of Ethiopia won the men’s race and Mai Tagami of Japan the women’s event at the Melbourne Marathon yesterday. Fekadu finished the men’s race in 2 hours, 17 minutes. Josphat Mwangi of Kenya, also the runner-up last year, was second, and Yared Mekonnen of Ethiopia third. Tagami won the women’s race in 2 hours, 38 minutes. Australians Michelle Bleakley and Jenny Wickham were second and third, respectively.



■ BASKETBALL

Magloire out for weeks

Miami center Jamaal Magloire, who broke his left hand on Thursday in a NBA pre-season game, will be sidelined for six to eight weeks, the Heat said on Saturday. Magloire was hurt in the third quarter of Miami’s second exhibition game of the season, which was played in Paris as part of the NBA Europe Live Tour. Magloire returned to Florida instead of staying with the team, which had another pre-season game against the New Jersey Nets in London on Sunday. The 30-year-old will be re-evaluated next week. The Heat open their regular season at New Jersey on Oct. 29.



■ FOOTBALL

Rookies fined for celebration

The NFL has reportedly fined Philadelphia rookies DeSean Jackson and Quintin Demps US$10,000 apiece for their touchdown celebration in last week’s loss to Washington. Jackson scored on a 68-yard punt return in the first quarter when Demps joined him in the end zone. They posed face-to-face with arms folded and heads bobbing, a seemingly innocent celebration that drew no reaction from on-field officials at the time. However, the Delaware County Times reported that the NFL had deemed their actions weren’t “natural, spontaneous expressions of exuberance and celebratory acts.”



■ ICE HOCKEY

Columbus center suspended

The NHL suspended Columbus Blue Jackets center Michael Peca indefinitely on Saturday in the wake of his game misconduct penalty in a season-opening victory over Dallas. Peca received the penalty for violating Rule 41, physical abuse of officials, at 5:21 of the second period of the Blue Jackets’ 5-4 overtime triumph over the Stars on Friday. The 14-year veteran has appealed the suspension and has a hearing scheduled for next week. Peca recorded eight goals and 26 assists in 65 games last season.



■ BASKETBALL

Ellis suspended for violation

Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis, already nursing a torn ankle ligament from a moped mishap, learned on Saturday the accident will be even more costly. Ellis, who inked a six-year, US$67 million extension this offseason, was suspended for 30 games without pay by the NBA team for violating the terms of that contract. The 22-year-old Ellis initially told the Warriors he was hurt in a pickup basketball game. But the Warriors eventually learned that Ellis was injured in the low-speed motor scooter accident. In a statement released by the Warriors, team president Robert Rowell said that Ellis violated paragraph 12 of the uniform player contract.



■ ICE HOCKEY

Kopitar signs extension

Anze Kopitar has signed a seven-year extension with the Los Angeles Kings, putting the 21-year-old center under contract through the 2015-2016 season. The seven-year deal is the second-longest in club history. Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s career leader in several categories, signed an eight-year deal in 1988. The contract was extended from seven to nine years after the first year. Kopitar is the latest player to receive a new contract from the Kings. Forward Dustin Brown signed a six-year agreement last year, and forwards Jarret Stoll (four years) and Patrick O’Sullivan (three years) also recently agreed to deals. Kopitar and the Kings were scheduled to open the season on Saturday night in San Jose.


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