■GOLF
Ishikawa puts school first
Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa will miss next week’s WGC-CA Championship event in Florida because he is attending his high school graduation. The 18-year-old will be in Tokyo on Monday for the ceremony and the Kyodo news agency reported Ishikawa was concerned he did not have enough time to prepare for the event at the Doral Resort and Spa which begins on Thursday. The world No. 37 is next scheduled to appear on the PGA Tour at the Tampa Bay Championship which runs from March 18 to March 21.
■TENNIS
Slovaks taste success
Second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova and fourth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova — both of Slovakia — reached the quarter-finals of the Monterrey Open on Thursday. Hantuchova defeated Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-1, 6-3 and Cibulkova downed Sara Errani of Italy 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Fifth-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary also advanced, defeating Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-1, while Latvian Anastasija Sevastova was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Czech Iveta Benesova.
■FORMULA ONE
Indian driver joins Hispania
India’s Karun Chandhok will partner Brazilian Bruno Senna, nephew of the late Ayrton, at Hispania for the forthcoming Formula One season, the Spanish team announced on Thursday. “We complete the driver’s team line-up with the Indian Karun Chandhok at the wheel of the car for our first ever season,” said team director Colin Kolles. “We have been very impressed with Karun’s performance in GP2. India is a great country. It will be great for the sport to have an Indian driver on the grid for the first Indian Grand Prix.” Chandhok, 26, has enjoyed a less than spectacular career in his three years in GP2, with one race victory to his name in both 2007 and 2008. He finished 10th in the drivers’ standings in 2008 and was 18th last year. The Campos Meta team announced on Wednesday that they had changed their name to Hispania to signify “a new birth for our Formula One ambitions” and to highlight “the incredible effort that is going on behind the scenes to ensure we make a successful debut in Bahrain on 14 March,” Kolles said. The new outfit was founded by ex-driver Adrian Campos and is financed by Spanish investor Jose Ramon Carabante, but their preparations had fallen behind schedule and doubts had been raised about their readiness for Bahrain.
■SOCCER
China ‘took it easy’
China took it easy in this week’s 2-0 friendly defeat to Portugal in Coimbra for fear of injuring star Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo and ruling him out of the World Cup, coach Gao Hongbo said. France striker Djibril Cisse suffered a broken leg after a challenge from China’s Zheng Zhi in a warm-up match for the 2006 World Cup, ruling the former Liverpool striker out of the finals. “There are so many superstars in the Portuguese team, especially Cristiano Ronaldo. We didn’t want to see a repeat of the Cisse tragedy. We don’t want a World Cup without Cristiano Ronaldo because of our fault,” Gao told Chinese media. “We played conservatively on the pitch because our players wanted to hurt neither themselves nor the Portuguese players.” Gao added “From this year on, Team China will not be satisfied by just playing Asian teams. We will upgrade our opponents in friendlies.”
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
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely