BOXING
God tells Pacquiao to retire
Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao said yesterday that he had been told by God in a dream to retire soon, potentially raising doubt over hopes of a fight with Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao, regarded by some as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter, told radio station DZMM in an interview also broadcast over the channel’s Teleradyo TV show, that he had decided to give up all his vices after the dream. “I will not stay long in boxing because he said: ‘You have done enough. You have made yourself famous, but this is harmful,’” said a serious-looking Pacquiao, who has won eight titles in as many weight divisions. Pacquiao, 33, said he had the dream earlier this year, but declined to reveal how many more fights he would contest before stepping down. However, when asked if his new-found religious fervor would hurt his boxing, Pacquiao replied: “I will do my work inside the ring.”
FOOTBALL
Seahawks land Matt Flynn
The Seattle Seahawks landed prized free agent Matt Flynn on a three-year deal on Sunday in a bid to end their problems at quarterback. Financial terms were not disclosed by the Seahawks, who announced the deal on their Web site, but local media reported the contract could be worth US$26 million. Despite his previous status as Green Bay’s backup quarterback, the 26-year-old Flynn was one of the most coveted free agent quaterbacks in the league after showing glimpses of his ability in his two starts for the Packers. Flynn set franchise records with 480 yards passing and six touchdowns in the Packers’ regular season finale to boost his career figures of 62 percent pass completion with nine touchdowns and five interceptions. Seattle signed quarterback Tavaris Jackson last off-season, but he had an inconsistent campaign with 14 passing touchdowns and 13 interceptions, and the Seahawks missed the playoffs.
SOCCER
Clashes halt Greek game
The Greek league game between leaders Olympiakos and Panathinaikos was abandoned with eight minutes to go because of escalating clashes between fans and police. Olympiakos, four points ahead of Panathinaikos ahead of the game, were leading 1-0 from Djamel Abdoun’s 51st-minute goal. No Olympiakos fans attended the game at the Olympic Stadium in Athens in accordance with a league policy not to allow visiting fans because of fears of violence. Clashes between police and fans started before the game, when hundreds of youths without tickets tried to enter the stadium. The clashes continued throughout, forcing the second half to start 35 minutes late. Stadium seats and the scoreboard were set on fire.
RUGBY UNION
Gregan named to ARU board
Former Wallabies captain George Gregan will represent the Rugby Union Players’ Association on the nine-man Australian Rugby Union (ARU) board, replacing Mark Connors. Connors served on the board from 2007 and will step down at the annual general meeting in Sydney on April 27, making way for Gregan, the most capped international rugby player. “I would also like to congratulate George on his imminent appointment to the board. He is one of the most decorated players in the history of our game,” board chairman Peter McGrath said in a statement yesterday. Former scrumhalf Gregan, who represented Australia in 139 matches from 1994 to 2007, will join three other former Wallabies — John Eales, Michael Hawker and Brett Robinson — on the board.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier