■BASKETBALL
Muslim’s headscarf banned
The Swiss basketball association has told a Muslim player she can’t wear a headscarf during league games. Sura Al-Shawk, a 19-year-old Swiss citizen of Iraqi origin, is making her debut in a regional women’s league when the season starts next month and her team STV Luzern had asked for permission to let her wear the scarf. The Swiss association ProBasket, however, said on Thursday it follows the rules of world governing body FIBA, which state that the sport has to be neutral, forbidding any religious symbols and head covers. “If basketball is priority No. 1, international rules have to be respected,” ProBasket said according to a report by Swiss daily Neue Luzerner Zeitung. “If religion is priority No. 1, then you cannot play basketball.” It added that STV Luzern will lose its games by default if Al-Shawk plays with her headscarf. “I really can’t understand what is happening here,” Al-Shawk told the newspaper. “I would not have thought it possible that in a country like Switzerland a headscarf in sport would pose a problem.”
■BOXING
Cuban women won’t box
Cuba will not take part in the newly created female boxing competition at the London 2012 Olympics, calling the combat sport “not appropriate” for women, Cuban Boxing Federation president Jose Barrientos said on Thursday. “We have no intention at this time to take part in any international tournament, because we consider this discipline as not appropriate for women,” Barrientos told the Cuban press agency Prensa Latina. Cuba has traditionally been a powerhouse of amateur boxing, though recent defections have weakened its team. Barrientos said the communist country does not currently have a program to develop women’s boxing.
■CRICKET
Goodwin hits triple-century
Former Zimbabwe batsman Murray Goodwin made the sixth-highest score in the history of English county cricket as his 344 not out helped Sussex reach 742-5 against Somerset on Thursday. Goodwin’s innings lasted 351 balls and included 43 fours and six sixes before Sussex declared. The 36-year-old’s mammoth score was a new individual record for Sussex and his team’s total was their highest ever, beating the previous best of 705-8 declared against Surrey in 1902. Former West Indies batsman Brian Lara holds the record for the highest score in first class cricket with an innings of 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994.
■BOXING
Replays to be introduced
Nevada could start using instant replays in professional boxing within a month to help referees review crucial or controversial moments of fights. The Nevada Athletic Commission approved limited use of the technology to help referees rule whether hits like low blows or head-butts are accidental — if they cause a fight to end because of injury. Commission executive director Keith Kizer said on Thursday that instant replays would be used at the sole discretion of referees.
■BASKETBALL
Jason Williams to return
Point guard Jason Williams has come out of retirement to play for the Orlando Magic, the NBA team said on Wednesday. The 33-year-old Williams hung up his sneakers in September last year after injuries and a reduced role with the Miami Heat team. Williams played 10 seasons with the Sacramento Kings, the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami. A first-round draft pick in 1998, Williams has career averages of 11.4 points and 6.3 assists per game.
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