■TENNIS
Nishikori warned over phone
Japanese No.1 Kei Nishikori has been warned not to let his mobile phone go off on court during next week’s home Davis Cup clash with China. The 19-year-old has been told to leave his phone in the locker room after it kept bleeping during a first-round defeat in Memphis last week, Japanese media reported yesterday. “He will have to be very careful about his mobile phone,” said Japan’s Davis Cup coach Eiji Takeuchi. “I’ll be warning him about that just to be on the safe side.” Nishikori had left his phone in his jacket pocket while playing Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis and ended up a 7-5, 6-3 loser, later admitting the incoming call had put him off. “At the very least he will have to learn to put it on vibration mode,” Takeuchi said.
■SOCCER
Another star burgled
Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher has become the latest Premier League player to have his home in the northwest of England burgled. He was in Italy preparing for United’s Champions League match against Inter on Tuesday when three armed robbers kicked in the front door late on Monday, while his fiancee and her mother were inside the property. A knife was held to Hayley Grice’s throat as she was forced to hand over a ring. Grice’s mother also had jewelry forced from her, police said on Tuesday. In a similar incident, thieves armed with a knife raided the home of Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz while he was away for a match at Portsmouth in November. “It is a cowardly attack if they have targeted Mr. Fletcher, as with Mr. Santa Cruz, because they know the male of the house was away,” police inspector Frank Morris said.
■RUGBY UNION
Carter return uncertain
The All Blacks admitted yesterday there was a serious question mark over when star flyhalf Dan Carter will return to top-flight rugby after he recovers from his ruptured Achilles tendon. Carter, who was injured playing for the French club Perpignan, underwent surgery three weeks ago and was initially expected to be back with the All Blacks in six months, halfway through the Tri-nations series. But he may not now be available until the end-of-year tour. All Blacks doctor Deb Robinson said that while Carter was on course to be playing again in six months, it may take him much longer to rediscover the form that saw him rated as one of the world’s best players. “This injury is a good example of how people can recover to play their sport but they may not get that absolute power and pace that’s required to play at the very top level,” Robinson said. “Guys come back and play rugby but they’re not really good for a little while,” she said, adding that Carter would eventually return to 100 percent but it would take time.
■CRICKET
New Zealand delays tour
New Zealand has postponed its tour of Zimbabwe in the face of strong political opposition, the country’s cricket board said yesterday. The one-year delay came after New Zealand Prime Minister John Key indicated he was prepared to stop the tour going ahead, citing “very real, genuine security risks” for the players. The decision followed talks between New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan and his Zimbabwean counterpart Ozias Bvuteat at an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Johannesburg. Vaughan said Zimbabwe Cricket was aware of the New Zealand government’s opposition to the tour, originally scheduled for July, and asked for the deferral.
■GOLF
Norman suggests pay cuts
Greg Norman thinks golfers need to take a pay cut as the global economic crisis bites. “Prize money’s being scaled back in Europe, I wouldn’t be surprised if prize money’s scaled back in the US just out of respect to every citizen and taxpayer over there who’s suffering dramatically,” the two-time British Open champion was quoted as saying yesterday on the Australian Broadcasting Corp Web site. “It seems like on the PGA Tour the players are still playing for a million dollars first week, like they’re recession-proof. I think there’s got to be a lot of sensitivity shown. If I was PGA commissioner that’s what I would be recommending.” The average PGA Tour purse last year was US$5.8 million. Norman, who was in Australia to play the Johnnie Walker Classic last weekend in Perth, also said golf’s international administrators should limit the impact of technology to save time and money rather than lengthen courses to accommodate for players hitting the ball further with increasingly advanced clubs.
■BASKETBALL
Knicks, Marbury part ways
Stephon Marbury was waived by the New York Knicks on Tuesday, ending a turbulent five-year stint in which the former NBA All-Star couldn’t lead his hometown team to a single playoff victory. The team released a statement saying an agreement between the Knicks and Marbury had been reached, but did not disclose financial terms. Knicks president Donnie Walsh has said the team and Marbury have been trying to work out a buyout. Marbury would be eligible to play in the playoffs for any team that signs him because he was waived by March 1. He has been linked to the Boston Celtics, who are in need of a backup guard with Tony Allen injured. The statement also said Marbury’s grievance against the Knicks had been resolved. The sides attended an arbitration hearing earlier on Tuesday regarding the nearly US$400,000 in salary the team had docked the point guard after alleging he refused to play in a game in Detroit in November.
■CYCLING
Zabriskie’s home burgled
Thieves who ransacked the home of David Zabriskie stole thousands of dollars in bikes and Olympic memorabilia from the world-class cyclist, Salt Lake City police said on Tuesday. Zabriskie’s loss was estimated at just under US$160,000, although not all of the 21 stolen items on a list made public by police have been awarded a value. Zabriskie’s mother, Sheree Hammick, discovered the theft on Monday, police said. Zabriskie had been away since Feb. 13 participating in the Tour of California. Hammick said she regularly checks on her son’s home when he and his family are out of town. On Monday, Hammick said she struggled to open the garage door, but once inside found both cars gone and “stuff just thrown everywhere.” Among those items are a watch and ring from the Beijing Olympics, Zabriskie’s Olympic time trials bike, other race medals and racing team-issued bikes and equipment that can be purchased commercially, Hammick said.
■YACHTING
Alinghi in match racing tour
America’s Cup champions Alinghi of Switzerland said on Tuesday they have entered the 2009 World Match Racing Tour as part of preparations for the next edition of yachting’s premier event. The four-man team led by American Ed Baird will take part in up to 10 match racing events around the world, starting with the Marseille International on March 10 and culminating with the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia in December.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier