■SKELETON
Oldie not slowing down
The oldest member of Japan’s Olympic squad spends his time hurtling down an icy chute head first at 130km per hour, but the 45-year-old is showing few signs of wanting to slow down in the twilight of his career. Instead, skeleton slider Kazuhiro Koshi plans to go out in style at next month’s Winter Games in Vancouver despite the dangers of a sport in which intense G-forces will be the least of his worries. “I’m in it to win it,” Koshi told Japanese reporters after returning from a World Cup event in Europe. “All I am thinking of is the gold medal.” Koshi will be the oldest Japanese athlete to appear at a Winter Olympics at the Feb. 12 to Feb. 28 Games, but shrugged off question marks over his age and said he was still improving. “I’ve really worked on improving my start,” said the Nagano-born Koshi, who won his first of four straight Japanese national skeleton titles in 1998. “At the Olympics, I wanted to make sure I don’t lose any ground [to younger sliders] at the start. I’m fully focused on that.”
■SNOWBOARDING
Australia choose youngster
Scott James, a 15-year-old halfpipe snowboarder, was chosen on Australia’s Olympic team yesterday, the country’s youngest competitor at the games in 50 years. James, who had not finished in the top 20 at a World Cup meet, placed 15th last weekend in Canada to gain selection to the team. James, who will be 15 years and seven months when the Games begin in Vancouver next month, will become Australia’s youngest Winter Olympian since 1960, when Aileen Nash competed in figure skating at Squaw Valley, California. James will join Torah Bright, Holly Crawford, Ben Mates (halfpipe), Damon Hayler, Alex Pullin (snowboard cross) and Joh Shaw ( parallel giant slalom) in the Australian team for Vancouver. The Australian freestyle skiing team was also announced, with Jacqui Cooper and Lydia Lassila in the aerials. The pair will be joined by Liz Gardner and Bree Munro with David Morris taking the sole men’s position. Defending Olympic champion, Canadian-born Dale Begg-Smith, heads the moguls team with teammate Ramone Cooper and ski cross exponent Jenny Owens named subject to medical assessments on Sunday.
■GOLF
Kaymer wins Abu Dhabi
Germany’s Martin Kaymer won the 1.5 million euro (US$2.1 million) Abu Dhabi Golf Championship for the second time in three years on Sunday when he prevailed over Ian Poulter by one shot. Kaymer, who started the day one ahead of Poulter and Rory McIlroy, shot a six-under par 66 to finish with a four-day tally of 21-under-par 267. Poulter matched him with a 66 of his own, but Kaymer edged ahead with a birdie on the final hole. McIlroy, who had a slow start and was only one-under at the turn, made four birdies on the back nine of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club to finish at 19-under par 269 for sole third place. It was Kaymer’s fifth win on the European Tour.
■GOLF
Watson, Prugh tie for lead
Bubba Watson and Alex Prugh were tied for the lead after four rounds of the 90-hole Bob Hope Classic on Sunday, each missing chances to edge ahead going into yesterday’s final round. Watson double-bogeyed the final hole, hitting his second shot into the water en route to a three-under 69 to fall back into a tie with fellow American Prugh on 23-under par 265. Prugh, a USPGA Tour rookie, missed a three-footer as he bogeyed his own final hole to post a 70. Bill Haas and South African Tim Clark were a stroke back.
■NETHERLANDS
Twente held by Groningen
FC Twente drew 0-0 with Groningen on Sunday to stay unbeaten but leave PSV Eindhoven on top of the Dutch league. Injury-hit Twente were fortunate not to lose as Groningen peppered goalkeeper Sander Boschker with numerous first-half shots. In the second half, Groningen’s Tim Mativaz hit a post and teammate Thomas van Enevoldsen’s attempt was cleared off the line by defender Dwight Tiendalli. PSV lead with 51 points, two more than Twente. Third-place Ajax beat defending champions AZ Alkmaar 1-0 at home. Gregory van der Wiel scored in the 63rd minute after trading passes with Luis Suarez, the Uruguayan who is the league’s top scorer with 18 so far this season. Also Sunday, it was Sparta Rotterdam 0, ADO The Hague 0 and VVV Venlo 1, Feyenoord 1.
■NETHERLANDS
PSV fire striker Reis
Dutch league leaders PSV Eindhoven have fired Brazilian striker Jonathan Reis for using banned drugs, the club said on Sunday. In a statement, the club said Reis, 21, had returned late from holiday during the winter break completely worn out. It said a medical examination in Eindhoven proved Reis had been using drugs and he had refused an offer of support by the club to undergo treatment in a specialized clinic. “It is a tough, but inevitable decision,” PSV director Jan Reker said. “Inside the club, we spoke long and intensively about Reis, but finally we drew the conclusion that PSV has no other choice.”
■GREECE
Greens extend their lead
Panathinaikos extended their lead in the Greek league to eight points on Sunday after earning a 0-0 draw at Aris Thessaloniki as second-place Olympiakos lost 1-0 at home to PAOK. The Greens have 48 points from 19 games, with Olympiakos and third-place PAOK on 40 points each. Alexandros Tzorvas palmed away a powerful shot by Aris striker Eddie Johnson, before a 20m shot by Panathinaikos midfielder Costas Katsouranis in the 88th minute was saved by Michalis Sifakis to secure his side a point. Striker Edinho scored PAOK’s winner in a counterattack in the 20th minute following a through ball by Vladan Ivic. Olympiakos controlled the game in the second half, but it was PAOK who came close to a second goal with Vieirinha and Pablo Garcia both hitting Antonis Nikopolidis’ crossbar. Also on Sunday, it was Atromitos 2, Kavala 0; Panthrakikos 1, Xanthi 1 and AEK 3, Giannena 1.
■FRANCE
Bordeaux to host Monaco
Champions Bordeaux will host Ligue 1 rivals Monaco in the French Cup round of 16 following the draw on Sunday. League leaders Bordeaux easily went through with a 5-1 demolition of second division Ajaccio on Saturday, while Monaco struggled past former champions Lyon 2-1 on Sunday. Cup holders Guingamp, who are 17th in Ligue 2, will travel to fourth division Colmar or Ligue 1 strugglers Boulogne. Paris Saint-Germain visit fourth division Vesoul after they knocked out fifth division Aubervilliers and third division Evian in previous rounds.
■ITALY
Serse Cosmi quits Livorno
Serse Cosmi became the 12th Serie A coach this season to leave his job as he quit Livorno on Sunday over deep-rooted differences with the club’s president. Following the 2-0 home defeat to Napoli, which leaves Livorno hovering just two points above the relegation zone, Cosmi announced to reporters that he was leaving because he cannot get on with Aldo Spinelli.
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
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