■SOCCER
Players charged over ‘brawl’
Two more soccer players were charged on Tuesday, police said, over the bar brawl in which Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard stands accused of assault and affray. Goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin, 28, and midfielder Robert Grant, 18, were both charged with affray, Merseyside Police said. The pair play for Accrington Stanley, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English soccer, three below Premier League Liverpool. A third man, Paul McGrattan, 31, was also charged on Tuesday with affray and assaulting a police officer, bringing the total number of those charged over the incident to six. Gerrard, 28, has already appeared before magistrates over his alleged part in a fight at the Lounge Inn nightclub in Southport on Dec. 29.
■SOCCER
Adriano escapes ban
Inter striker Adriano has escaped a possible two-game ban after scoring the opener with his arm in Sunday’s 2-1 win over AC Milan. There was insufficient proof that the Brazilian had deliberately intended to commit a handball, the Italian league’s disciplinary unit said in a statement on Tuesday after reviewing video evidence. The ball came off his head and then hit his arm before flying into the net in the 28th minute following Maicon’s cross. A similar incident happened in October when Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino was banned for two games after it was decided he had deliberately used an arm to score in a 3-1 win at Palermo.
■SOCCER
Blues heading to Seattle
Chelsea will visit Seattle to play Major League Soccer newcomer the Sounders in a friendly in July. The English Premier League powerhouse will be tuning up for next season, while the Sounders will be taking time out of their first year in the US’ top division. Chelsea played an MLS All-Star team in 2006, and visited the US again in 2007 to face the LA Galaxy. Chelsea also visited Seattle in 2004, playing Scotland’s Celtic. The Blues also played the Sounders of the North American Soccer League in 1977 and beat a local group of amateurs in 1967.
■BADMINTON
China to re-launch league
China is set to re-launch its professional league seven years after shelving it following renewed interest generated by its world-beating national team. Six to eight clubs, with no less than 10 players each, would compete in the league, slated to start before the end of the year, said Liu Fengyan, director of the Chinese Badminton and Table Tennis Administration. The league was halted seven years ago because of cost pressures. Liu said that the league would help China retain top players and coaches who might be tempted by higher salaries overseas. Cut-throat competition at the top level has seen elite Chinese players desert the country for foreign leagues.
■CRICKET
Benaud to hang up mike
Commentator Richie Benaud announced yesterday he will retire next year, ending nearly a half-century of broadcasting which made him an icon in the sport. “I’ll be doing Australian cricket next year, 2010, but I don’t do any television at all anywhere else now and when I finish next year, then I’ll be doing other things,” Benaud, 78, told local radio. “That’ll be no more television commentary.” The former Australia captain has worked in the commentary box since retiring from Test cricket in 1964, working for Australian and British television. Benaud hung up the microphone for British television in 2005.
■BASKETBALL
Hornets trade big man
Tyson Chandler was traded from the New Orleans Hornets to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday in a move that can give New Orleans room under the National Basketball Association salary cap. The Hornets traded 216cm Chandler, who has two years and US$24.6 million remaining on a contract he can opt out of next year, to the Thunder for forward Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox and the rights to DeVon Hardin. Smith is in the final year of a US$4.8 million deal while Wilcox’s US$6.7 million contract is also expiring.
■BASKETBALL
Shaq gives Obama shoe
What’s the ideal gift for a president obsessed with basketball? Try a size 23 sneaker personally autographed by Shaquille O’Neal. The Phoenix Suns center couldn’t be around himself when US President Barack Obama arrived at Sky Harbor International Airport on Tuesday afternoon. So when the president stepped off of Air Force One, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s son Jake made the presentation at the foot of the stairs. The orange-and-white sneaker made a big impression. Obama set it on the ground next to his own, much smaller shoe, and grinned as photographers captured the moment. Then Obama scooped it up and took it with him as he stepped into a limo.
■FOOTBALL
Gloves sell for US$70,200
The gloves used by Pittsburgh receiver Santonio Holmes to make the winning catch in Super Bowl 43 brought US$70,200 in a charity auction, officials said on Tuesday. Holmes was the Most Valuable Player in the National Football League title game on Feb. 1 when the Steelers captured an unprecedented sixth Super Bowl title by defeating Arizona thanks to Holmes’ tip-toe touchdown catch. Holmes auctioned off the gloves for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. Holmes’ six-year-old son, Santonio III, has the blood disease.
■FOOTBALL
Saints release McAllister
The New Orleans Saints released running back Deuce McAllister, their all-time leading rusher, on Tuesday. Selected in the first round of the 2001 draft, McAllister spent his eight-year professional career in New Orleans and established franchise records for touchdowns (55), rushing yards (6,096) and rushing attempts (1,429). McAllister’s production had dropped off in recent seasons because of injuries, including surgery to repair torn ligaments in both knees.
■ATHLETICS
Liu Xiang set to return
Former Olympic champion Liu Xiang is on the verge of returning to China to resume training following Achilles tendon surgery two months ago in Houston, Texas. A statement on Liu’s Web site yesterday said he would return early next month and might resume training sooner than that. Shanghai-based newspaper the Xinmin Evening News quoted Liu’s coach Sun Haiping as saying that training on the hurdles will only resume when Liu returns to China. Liu, the 2004 Olympic champion, limped off the track six months ago as he was warming up for his first race at the Beijing Olympics. He had surgery in December to remove four pieces of bone from his Achilles’ tendon. Liu’s coach has said he will compete in the World Championships in August at Berlin if he can run the 110m hurdles in 13.2 seconds. Liu is a former world-record holder who established his mark of 12.88 seconds in 2005. It was surpassed on June 12 by Cuban Dayron Robles (12.87 seconds).
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two