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■SOCCER

Squad saves suicidal woman

A woman was talked out of suicide by the Hull City team, it emerged yesterday. The woman had been threatening to jump from the Humber Bridge, which has seen more than 200 attempts or falls since it opened in 1981, when the players of the Premier League side, led by manager Phil Brown, walked past. Second from bottom of the table and having lost 6-1 to Liverpool on Saturday, Brown took his players on a walk to try to clear their heads. In the end, they achieved rather more. “We walked across there [on Wednesday],” Brown said. “We saved a girl actually — considering her future, shall we say. You don’t know, do you, until someone jumps, whether they were actually going to do it? But she tootled off back to wherever she came from. We were looking for clarity,” Brown went on. “Did we find it? Absolutely. When you’re jogging you can’t really speak. When you’re walking, you can. So that’s what we did. There are analogies if you want them. The bridge was built with engineering based on the fact that when an ill wind blows, it becomes stronger, a sturdier sculpture.”



■SOCCER

Rooney puts family first

Wayne Rooney is prepared to miss Manchester United’s Champions League trip to CSKA Moscow if it clashes with wife Coleen giving birth to the couple’s first child. The England striker’s child is due on Oct. 24 — also Rooney’s 24th birthday — which is just three days after the Manchester United are due to play in Moscow. “Of course I want to be there for the birth of my child and if anything happens around the days of traveling then I’m sure I’ll stay back and won’t go. But unless that happens I will be there playing,” Rooney said. “It’s due a few days after. Of course it’s a long way but I’ve got a job to go and play for United so unless anything happens then I’ll be there.”



■TENNIS

Teen sensation loses

US teen sensation Melanie Oudin, looking to extend her dream breakthrough season at the China Open, saw her hopes dashed yesterday when she failed to qualify for the main draw in Beijing. The 18-year-old Oudin, ranked 42nd in the world, was ousted by unheralded compatriot Alexa Glatch, the world No. 115, in three sets, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. Oudin burst onto the scene in June with a fourth-round showing at Wimbledon, shocking former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic en route. The Georgia native followed that up with an even better run at Flushing Meadows, defeating fourth seed Elena Dementieva and another former No. 1, Maria Sharapova. Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen also lost yesterday but not before giving Shahar Peer a fright by taking the first set. The Israeli, who has just won successive WTA tournaments, bounced back to take the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Another Taiwanese casualty yesterday was Hsieh Su-wei. The 23-year-old proved no match for Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan who cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory.



■SOCCER

Welliton may go Russian

Spartak Moscow’s Brazilian forward Welliton said he would consider taking up Russian citizenship and playing for the country at international level. “It’s very difficult to make the Brazil national team so if I get an invitation, I would play for Russia,” the speedy striker was quoted as saying by the daily Sovietsky Sport. Welliton, who turns 23 this month, has established himself as one of the top players in the Russian Premier League since joining Spartak from Brazilian side Goias in 2007. He is the league’s leading scorer with 15 goals this season.



■ATHLETICS

Club to pay Semenya

The owner of a lapdancing club in South Africa is to pay world champion Caster Semenya 20,000 rand (US$2,700), the Star newspaper reported on Thursday. Lolly Jackson, who owns the Teazers club, has been embroiled in a row over a billboard advertising his club. The billboard shows a naked woman lying on her back and the words “No need for gender testing” written on it. Semenya’s gender was questioned after she won the women’s 800m final at the world championship. Leaked test results show Semenya to be intersexed — or having both male and female characteristics. South African athletic officials, who at first denied knowing about the test, have come under attack since it emerged that they lied. Jackson told the newspaper that he was going to pay the money to the athlete.



■TENNIS

Belgians face doping board

Belgian US Open semi-­finalist Yanina Wickmayer and compatriot Xavier Malisse must appear before a Belgian anti-doping commission after violating its rules, Belgian news agency Belga reported on Thursday. Wickmayer broke the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) “whereabouts” rule three times in the past 18 months, Belga said, citing a spokesman for the Flemish Doping Tribunal. Under the rule, athletes must tell their national anti-­doping authorities where they will be at a chosen hour between 6am and 11pm each day for a three-month period. If they change plans they are obliged to inform the authorities. Athletes who miss three doping tests over an 18-month period face possible suspension. Malisse, ranked 153rd in the world, broke the whereabouts rules twice and missed a doping test, Belga said.



■TENNIS

Tauziat to file suit

Former Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat indicated on Thursday she will pursue a claim for defamation against the media and three former players, saying she has been falsely accused of keeping quiet over allegations of rape that led to the arrest of her former coach. Tauziat’s former coach Regis de Camaret was arrested in 2007 after several players, including Isabelle Demongeot, accused him of sexually assaulting minors between 1977 and 1989, when he ran an academy at Saint Tropez. De Camaret insists he is not guilty. Tauziat says she was defamed when Demongeot and fellow players Catherine Tanvier and Isabelle Amiach alleged Tauziat had been aware of the alleged assaults but had kept quiet. Tauziat says she was also defamed by media outlets that reported the allegations.



■GOLF

Woods breaks US$1bn mark

Tiger Woods, 33, has become the first sportsman to break through the US$1 billion earnings barrier, Forbes magazine reported on Thursday. Woods reached the latest landmark of his career when he won a US$10 million bonus for his FedEx Cup victory last weekend. Forbes’ said Woods went into the 2009 season on US$895 million, which included prize money, endorsements, appearance fees as well as fees from his golf course design business. Woods has been the top-earning sportsman since 2002, ousting former Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher. His most lucrative commercial deal is with Nike for more than US$30 million dollars a year. Forbes estimated that retired NBA star Michael Jordan will be the next sportsman to earn US$1 billion. Jordan amassed around US$800 million in his playing career and continues to make US$45 million a year thanks mainly to a deal with Nike.
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