■ENGLAND
Magpies extend their lead
Championship leaders Newcastle United extended their lead at the top of the table on Saturday after a 3-0 victory over Preston North End at St James’ Park. The Magpies are now five points clear of second-placed Nottingham Forest. Denmark forward Peter Lovenkrands — who has shown great form and courage since his father died earlier this year — set the tone with a fortunate third-minute strike, before former Bolton Wanderers midfielder Kevin Nolan extended Newcastle’s advantage 10 minutes after halftime. The win was rounded off in stoppage-time when substitute Ryan Taylor converted Fabrice Pancrate’s cross. Forest kept themselves in touch and leapfrogged into the second automatic promotion place after a hard fought 1-0 win against Middlesbrough at the City Ground. Gordon Strachan’s Boro offered stiff resistance, before finally being undone by Chris Cohen’s sweet strike in the 75th minute. The victory was Forest’s ninth straight home league win, a club record. Swansea City consolidated their play-off position by beating Derby County 1-0 in a stormy encounter at Pride Park, which featured police coming onto the pitch to separate brawling players from both teams. Cardiff City did themselves no favors in their chase of the top two after losing 2-0 at home to Barnsley. The final play-off spot is occupied by Leicester City, although their cushion has been reduced after they could only muster a 1-1 draw away at relegation-threatened Plymouth Argyle.
■SOUTH AFRICA
Cup ticket prices slashed
FIFA said on Saturday it has increased the number of cheap World Cup tickets to get more South Africans into stadiums at Africa’s first World Cup during June and July. The Johannesburg Saturday Star reported that FIFA slashed the price of at least 30 percent of category 2 and 3 tickets, which cost up to 840 rand (US$110), to 140 rand. “We made clear right from the start of ticketing that we aim to increase the number of cat [category] 4 tickets to up to 20 percent,” FIFA said in a statement on Saturday. “This does not affect the already sold tickets.” FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke said this week that the governing body was targeting 20 percent ticket sales to South Africans. “We will increase the number of category four tickets because we cannot have a situation where the FIFA World Cup is in South Africa and people cannot see matches,” Valcke said.
■AUSTRALIA
Socceroos to face All Whites
Australia will play fellow World Cup qualifiers New Zealand in their farewell home match in May before heading off to the World Cup in South Africa, Football Federation Australia (FFA) said yesterday. The Socceroos, who are grouped with Germany, Ghana and Serbia, take on the All Whites at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on May 24. The FFA said a full-strength Socceroos squad was expected to be chosen, including European-based stars, captain Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and Mark Schwarzer.
■JAPAN
Nakamura returning home
The Yokohama F Marinos have reached an agreement to sign Espanyol’s Shunsuke Nakamura on a full transfer. Yokohama president Akira Kaetsu spoke with Nakamura’s agent via the telephone on Saturday and the two agreed terms on a multi-year deal that would see the midfielder return to his former team, the Nikkansports newspaper reported yesterday. Nakamura could sign in the next week, in time for Yokohama’s J-League opener on March 6, the report said.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and