■ CRICKET
Superstars win opener
The Stanford Superstars stifled Trinidad and Tobago to win the Stanford Twenty20 Super Series opener by a comfortable 22 runs on Saturday. After posting a modest 146-5, the Superstars — a West Indies all-star team — restricted Trinidad to 124-8 in their 20 overs at Stanford Cricket Ground. The star turn was ultimately from Superstars stand-in captain Sylvester Joseph with an undefeated 31-ball 45. He shared in a third-wicket stand of 55 with opener Travis Dowlin (35) to revive their innings after they were pegged at 34-2 in the eighth over. Joseph deputized for West Indies captain Chris Gayle, who withdrew from the game because his mother and brother were ill. World player of the year Shivnarine Chanderpaul also opted out.
■ TENNIS
Luzzi dies of leukemia
Italian player Federico Luzzi died on Saturday after suffering from leukemia, Italian news agency Ansa reported. He was just 28-years-old. He had fallen ill the previous Sunday with a fever that was initially believed to be some form of bronchopneumonia. However, tests at the San Donato hospital in his home town of Arezzo in Tuscany found that he actually had leukemia. He was transferred to the hematology department, but slipped into a coma and died during resuscitation. Both his mother and father were at his bedside when he died. Luzzi was just inside the top 100 in the ATP world rankings, but was best known for his part in a match-fixing scandal that saw him banned for 200 days.
■ ATHLETICS
Weather strands athletes
Mountain rescue teams have been searching for stranded competitors after an elite marathon in England was called off because of heavy rain, flooding and high winds. The athletes were competing in the Original Mountain Marathon, a two-day race across rough country in the Lake District, about 483km north of London. High winds and heavy rain affected much of northwest England on Saturday. The marathon’s Web site said the race was called off just after noon on Saturday. It’s unknown how many people are stranded in the mountains. Bob Liddell, a member of a local mountain rescue team, said rescuers would not be using Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopters because of the wind.
■ MOTOGP
Rossi only 10th fastest
Newly-crowned world champion Valentino Rossi suffered another bout of Valencia misery on Saturday when he could only clock the 10th-fastest time in qualifying for the final race of the season. Outgoing world champion Casey Stoner of Australia took pole on his Ducati, ahead of Honda duo Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden. Rossi, with eight world titles to his name and six in the top class, fell off his machine in the 2006 race in Valencia, while he broke his hand last year. Now the Italian has a mountain to climb if he is to set a new record. With 357 points, he needs 11 more points to beat his own mark for points scored in a season (367 in 2005) and equaled by Stoner last year.
■ CRICKET
Pakistan name new coach
The Pakistan Cricket Board named former captain and manager Intikhab Alam as the new national cricket coach on Saturday, a day after Australian Geoff Lawson was sacked. Alam will take the helm for Pakistan’s upcoming series of three one-day internationals against the West Indies next month in the neutral venue of Abu Dhabi.
■ BASEBALL
Pujols receives award
RSS