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■SQUASH

Gaultier slams refereeing

World No. 1 Gregory Gaultier launched into a tirade against the refereeing which he claimed had contributed to his failure to reach the final of the World Open on Thursday. “I can’t believe it was such one-sided refereeing,” the Frenchman said, after his noisy, controversial and incident-packed 11-5, 11-9, 12-10 semi-final loss to Ramy Ashour, the defending champion from Egypt. “It was one European, one Egyptian and one South African and I still get screwed,” Gaultier said, acknowledging, however, that Ashour’s skills were close to their brilliant best. Ashour now faces compatriot Amr Shabana, a three-time world champion, in today’s final. Shabana reached his fourth final after quelling a dangerous fight back from James Willstrop, the 11th seeded Englishman, by 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9.



■ICE HOCKEY

Flu shots spark debate

Ontario health minister Deb Matthews vowed on Thursday to investigate whether Toronto’s NBA and NHL players jumped the line for the swine flu shot while other groups are being forced to wait as the province’s supply dwindles. Matthews said she shares the outrage sparked by reports that Raptors and Maple Leafs players got the shot even though the province doesn’t have enough yet to vaccinate school-age children. “I don’t care who you are, how rich you are, how famous you are,” she said. “If you’re not in the priority group, get out of the line and let the people who are in the priority groups get their vaccination.”



■BASEBALL

Girardi helps crash victim

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi capped off a victorious evening by helping a car crash victim in suburban New York. Police say Girardi pulled over to help after a woman lost control on a Westchester County highway and crashed into a wall around 2:30am on Thursday just hours after Girardi’s team claimed the World Series title against the Philadelphia Phillies. Girardi told WFAN-AM he was “really concerned” because of damage to her car. He said he had his wife call the emergency number, then approached the mangled vehicle. The woman had only cuts and Girardi talked to her until the police arrived minutes later. “She had no idea who I was,” Girardi said. “I think the important thing is, you know, obviously there’s a lot of joy in what we do, but we can’t forget to be human beings where we help others out. I think that’s the most important thing we can do in life.” Officer Kathleen Cristiano said seeing Girardi at the accident scene “was totally surreal.”



■SNOWBOARDING

Bright, Kokubo mark wins

Torah Bright of Australia and Kazuhiro Kokubo of Japan won season-opening World Cup snowboarding events on Thursday. Cai Xuetong of China finished second in the women’s competition, followed by Sophie Rodriguez of France. With clean runs in the superpipe, Kokubo was surprised to find himself on top of the podium in the men’s event. Mathieu Crepel of France was second and Peetu Piiroinen of Finland was third.



■BOXING

Judge Filippo dies at 83

Lou Filippo, who judged 85 world champion fights and played an announcer in the Rocky movies, has died. He was 83. Officials say Filippo suffered a stroke and died on Monday at a hospital near where he lived. He had judged a fight only two weeks ago.


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