■GOLF
Pakistani duo make history
Muhammad Shabbir and Muhammad Munir etched their names in the history books as they guided Pakistan to their first Omega Mission Hills World Cup yesterday. The unheralded Pakistani duo shot a superb three-under-par 68 in the final round foursomes at Seri Selangor Golf Club in Malaysia to finish third at the Asian qualifier, which was won by pre-tournament favorites Singapore. Represented by Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat, Singapore carded a closing 72 for a four-day total of 15-under-par 269 to finish one shot ahead of Philippines pair Mars Pucay and Angelo Que. The top three qualify for the World Cup, which takes place in China in November. “Pakistan have played in the cricket World Cup, hockey World Cup and squash World Cup but never before in our history that we’ve been in golf’s World Cup,” Munir said. “I don’t know how to describe how we feel right now. I’m sure everyone in Pakistan will be very happy.”
■SOCCER
Mourinho defends comments
Inter coach Jose Mourinho blamed the press on Friday for stirring up tensions following comments he made about Ramadan. The Portuguese coach said Ghana’s Sulley Muntari had possibly lacked energy in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Bari because he was fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The statement angered an Italian Muslim leader and reports say threats against Mourinho have been posted on Web sites. “If something happens to me it will be your responsibility,” Mourinho told reporters ahead of yesterday’s Serie A derby with AC Milan. “The situation with Muntari is your responsibility. I know what I said. I said ‘you can’t criticize the decision of Muntari because it is a question of faith and religion’. That means I accept it, I never said Muntari must forget his faith. If someone in the Islamic community is annoyed with me, It is your fault.”
■BASEBALL
Angels boost pitching roster
The Los Angeles Angels bolstered their pitching roster by acquiring left-handed starter Scott Kazmir in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Angels announced on their Web site on Friday. The American League West-leading Angels sent two minor league prospects along with a player to be named later in exchange for Kazmir, who helped lead the Rays to a first World Series appearance last season. The two-time All-Star is 8-7 with a 5.92 ERA this year and his presence will lift the Angels, who have struggled with their pitching and needed to improve their rotation for the post-season run. “We are excited to have a pitcher of Scott’s calibre,” Angels general manager Tony Reagins told reporters. “He has excelled at the Major League level since he came into the league. The move provides us with some depth in our rotation.” Kazmir leaves Tampa Bay as the team’s all-time leader in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts.
■SOCCER
Star in knife raid terror
Australia midfielder Vince Grella was held at knife point by a gang of masked men in a terrifying raid at his home in England. Four men broke into the Blackburn Rovers star’s house in Wilmslow, Cheshire on Sunday evening and demanded jewelry, watches and the keys to his car. They fled in his BMW X5 which was later found dumped nearby. Grella was left shaken but uninjured, while his wife Barbara and seven-year-old twin daughters Sophia and Victoria were out when the robbery took place. The 29-year-old, who has played 40 times for Australia, moved to England from Italian club Torino last year.
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