■HORSE RACING
‘Poison dart’ plot foiled
Two men were questioned yesterday by police in Hong Kong in connection with a plot to rig big money races by shooting poison darts at horses. The men were arrested on Thursday after being seen acting suspiciously by security guards. A police source quoted by radio station RTHK said the men were questioned over a suspected plot to affect the outcome of races by shooting poison darts at horses from remote-controlled devices hidden in the grass next to the track. In March 2007, a firing contraption attached to a series of tubes dug into the ground was found near the starting line of the racecourse. Police officials said at the time that they believed the discovery foiled a plot to fire poison darts from the tubes at the horses. The suspects arrested on Thursday were carrying torches and gloves.
■CRICKET
Azharuddin enters politics
Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who was forced to quit the game after a match-fixing scandal, entered the country’s turbulent political scene on Thursday. Azharuddin, 46, was paraded for the media at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi after joining the ruling party ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections. But Congress spokesman Veerappa Moily refused to confirm if Azharuddin would contest polls expected in April and May. “I’ve known him for 25 years and he expressed his desire to join the Congress,” Moily said. “I took up this matter with the Congress president [Sonia Gandhi], who has agreed to admit him into the party. He is joining the party unconditionally. Whether he will contest for the Lok Sabha [lower house] elections will be discussed later.” Azharuddin said he was delighted to sign up with Congress but sidestepped questions on standing for elections. “The Congress has done so much for the country since the freedom movement. I wanted to give something back to the nation and the best way was to serve the people,” Azharuddin said. He was banned from cricket for life in 2000 after he was named in a match-fixing probe.
■SWIMMING
D’Arcy says sorry
Nick D’Arcy will have to wait a few more weeks to find out whether he’ll spend any time in jail for assaulting former Commonwealth Games medalist Simon Cowley in a barroom fight last March. D’Arcy was subsequently dumped from Australia’s Olympic team for Beijing after being charged in the attack that left Cowley with fractures to his jaw, eye socket, cheekbone and nose. The 21-year-old D’Arcy pleaded guilty last November to recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm on Cowley. Magistrate John Favretto said yesterday that he would hear sentencing submissions next week and will hand down his decision at a later date. D’Arcy apologized to Cowley in court yesterday. “I am extremely sorry, if there was anything I could do to take it back I would,” he said.
■CRICKET
Lewis denies drug charge
Former England star Chris Lewis denied trying to smuggle cocaine into Britain as he appeared in court on Thursday. The 41-year-old is accused of trying to sneak cocaine with an estimated street value of £200,000 (US$290,000). Lewis and co-defendant Chad Kirnon were both remanded in custody at Croydon Crown Court after entering not guilty pleas. Lewis was arrested last year after border control officers at London Gatwick Airport found 4kg of the illegal drug in liquid form in fruit tins in baggage that had arrived on a flight from St Lucia.
A runner who stopped during a marathon in China to pose doing the splits and another who hoarded energy gels have been banned for two years, the local athletics association said yesterday. The incidents happened during Sunday’s marathon in Sichuan Province’s Chengdu and were widely shared online. Videos showed a female runner stopping suddenly and dropping to the ground in the splits position, holding up her arms in a heart shape as she apparently posed for a photograph. She “committed obstructive fouls during the race, affecting the safe participation of other runners,” the Sichuan Athletics Association said in a statement, which identified
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah on Tuesday said that he would leave the English club at the end of the Premier League season, marking an earlier-than-planned departure for one of the club’s greatest-ever scorers and soccer’s biggest names. The 33-year-old Egypt forward, who has scored 255 goals in 435 appearances for Liverpool, “reached an agreement” to quit the team a year before his contract was due to expire, the Premier League champions said. Salah’s form has dipped in his ninth year at Anfield, to such an extent that he was dropped for a stretch of games late last year — leading to the
There were some big games to be played yesterday in the NBA, with the Atlanta Hawks to play the Detroit Pistons in a matchup pitting a Hawks team who are rolling against a Pistons team trying to lock up the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed. The Oklahoma City Thunder were to play the Boston Celtics, a showdown featuring the two most recent champions, while the Houston Rockets faced the Minnesota Timberwolves, a game that could factor mightily into Western Conference seeding. Elsewhere, the Washington Wizards were to play the Utah Jazz, with the Wizards on a 16-game slide visiting against a team
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