From the malign to the ridiculous, the madcap to the simply weird — there was no shortage of offbeat moments in world sport this year, from fining a coach not money but pigs for misdemeanors to eccentric Englishmen playing cricket in the sea.
Here’s a summary of strange sporting highlights of the past 12 months:
RUGBY UNION
Photo: AFP
Pigging out
England players who step out of line at major tournaments “merely” suffer a tabloid lynching and, as Mike Tindall knows to his cost, can pick up a fine for their trouble.
Samoan manager Mathew Vaea didn’t have to dig into his pocket after the World Cup in New Zealand after allegations of misconduct. Instead he was symbolically fined ... 100 pigs by his home village.
Leaders in the Pacific island nation’s Leauva’a village ordered Vaea to pay 100 sows for tarnishing the chiefly title of tuala earlier bestowed on him after the team failed to reach the quarter-finals.
Instead of taking piggies to market, Vaea handed over 2,000 Samoan tala (US$840) equivalent to their value.
CRICKET
Cricketers’ damp designs
Their Test counterparts are no longer all at sea, having claimed the Ashes, but a flotilla of eccentric Englishmen took to the waves to contest one of the silliest fixtures of all — playing cricket under water.
The annual match takes place on Bramble Bank, a tiny patch of sand that emerges for 30 minutes at the year’s lowest tide in the Solent, separating the south coast of mainland England from the Isle of Wight.
Every September, the Royal Southern Yacht Club meet the Island Sailing Club, using a few square meters of soggy sand several nautical miles away from dry land.
“The fact is, this is total nonsense, and total nonsense is extremely enjoyable,” umpire Philip Gage said of the seven-overs-a-side contest.
Batting for the Royal Southern was Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to circumnavigate the globe non-stop single-handed.
He scored a duck, saying: “The key to the bowling is to pitch it just at the edge of a puddle.”
SOCCER
Simply the best? Yes, prime minister
Such is the financial might of the soccer world these days that it’s only natural the sport should attract the rich and the powerful. However, the sycophancy that can follow reached new heights in Bulgaria, where Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov was nominated the country’s best player.
Borisov does have some affinity for the beautiful game — he occasionally turns out for third-division side Vitosha Bistritsa.
However, he was never a Hristo Stoichkov and admitted his nomination ahead of the likes of Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov was a bit over the top.
“This vote does not show Borisov is the best footballer, but that Bulgarian football needs reforming and to be run differently,” Borisov said.
Yes, prime minister.
ATHLETICS
It’s not a record; it’s a girl
Amber Miller took a modest 6 hours, 23 minutes to finish the Chicago Marathon — then gave birth the same evening to a baby girl.
The 27-year-old had her -doctor’s permission to compete in her eighth marathon, despite being 39 weeks pregnant.
“It was the longest day of my life,” Miller told the Chicago Tribune, adding that the race had been easier than labor.
ATHLETICS
You’re never too young — or old
An eight-year-old Malaysian girl became the youngest athlete to win Southeast Asian Games gold when she won the waterskiing tricks event.
Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah saw off all-comers and boasted afterwards: “I was confident all the way,” even though she almost lost her balance in the opening round.
If you’re never too young, you’re never too old either.
Ask 76-year-old Singaporean grandmother, Lai Chun Ng, who bagged two silver medals in bridge — the oldest person to make the podium.
ATHLETICS
Any bidders?
A British athlete is so desperate to obtain sponsorship for the London Games he put himself up for auction on online giant EBay.
The eventual winner will earn the right to emblazon his or her brand or logo on sprinter James Ellington’s kit at training and press events before and after next year’s Olympics.
“Currently I have no commercial sponsorship, so we looked at different ways to get myself out there and gathering interest from outside companies,” the 26-year-old said.
For a reserve price of £30,000 (US$35,000), his shirt space is yours.
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