SOCCER
Doncaster sign pop star
Doncaster Rovers made the most unlikely signing of the season on Thursday when they agreed a deal for One Direction pop star Louis Tomlinson. Doncaster-born Tomlinson is more well known for his exploits with the chart-topping British band, who shot to fame after appearing on the television talent show The X Factor in 2010, but the 21-year-old, who once worked at the club as a hospitality waiter and is a Rovers season-ticket holder, will get the chance to fulfill a boyhood dream after signing for the English Championship club as a non-contract player in aid of Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in Sheffield. Tomlinson, who has been issued with the No. 28 shirt for the 2013-2014 season, said: “This has always been a childhood dream for me. I feel very honored to have been asked to sign for Rovers, and being able to help both the club and the amazing charity Bluebell Wood is what it’s all about.”
CRICKET
The Don’s bat up for grabs
A cricket bat used by Australian great Donald Bradman and signed by his 1948 “Invincible” team is expected to fetch up to A$20,000 (US$17,900) at auction this month, an auctioneer said yesterday. Charles Leski, whose company is selling the item, said Bradman used the Sykes bat to score 115 in his final first-class innings at home before the team traveled to England in 1948. The Invincibles went on to become — and remain — the only Australia side to go through an entire Ashes tour unbeaten. The item, which spent 20 years on display at the Western Australian Cricket Association from 1984, will be auctioned on Aug. 15 in Melbourne, Australia. “Few items of cricketing memorabilia overshadow those belonging to Sir Donald Bradman,” Leski said. “Of these, his bats are among the most prized possessions because they were his ultimate stock in trade.” The legendary Australia batsman, who died aged 92 in 2001, played his last match in England in 1948 and retired with a yet-to-be-topped Test batting average of 99.94, despite scoring a duck in his final innings.
RUGBY UNION
Lions tour generated A$150m
The Wallabies may have lost the series, but Australia did very well financially out of the recent tour by the British and Irish Lions, a tourism industry body said yesterday. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the five-week tour generated an estimated A$150 million (US$134 million) for the economy. The bureau’s overseas arrivals and departures figures show international arrivals rose by 7 percent in June. Australia’s peak national industry body Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) said the month’s figures showed the impact of major events on the economy.
TENNIS
Haase rallies to make semis
Two-time defending champion Robin Haase reached the semi-finals of the Bet-at-Home Cup in Kitzbuehel, Austria, on Thursday by rallying to beat third seed Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Haase, who came off his third career final in Gstaad the previous weekend, broke the Spaniard at 5-4 in the second set and came back from a break down in the third. After winning in 2011 and last year, the Dutchman is now 12-0 at the event. He next plays eighth seed Marcel Granollers of Spain, who beat Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-3, 6-1 to reach his first semi-final. Second seed Juan Monaco defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Monaco next faces either Albert Montanes of Spain or Austrian teenager Dominic Thiem.
DEAFLYMPICS
Chen wins silver
Taiwanese pole vault athlete Chen Chung-yu won a silver medal and set a new national record on Thursday at this year’s Summer Deaflympics in Bulgaria. Chen cleared the bar at 4.8m in the men’s final of the competition, recording a personal best and the highest jump by a Taiwanese competitor in the special event. In women’s bowling, Taiwan also won a silver medal, while South Korea took gold. Meanwhile, karate athlete Lu Chin-feng bagged a silver medal for Taiwan in the men’s 75kg-84kg category, while his teammate Chiu Yi-hao took bronze in the under-75kg category. Wen Chih-hsuan and Yang Jung-tsung of Taiwan also won bronze in the men’s table tennis doubles. Taiwan’s national team has so far bagged 17 medals — two gold, seven silver and eight bronze — at the world Games for the deaf.
CYCLING
Hushovd takes fifth stage
Norway’s Thor Hushovd powered to a sprint victory on the 160.5km fifth stage of the Tour de Pologne from Nowy Targ to Zakopane on Thursday. The 2010 world champion emerged triumphant ahead of Frenchman Matthieu Ladagnous and Italy’s Luka Mezgec in a cagey uphill sprint to earn his second victory in three days, while BMC triumphed for a third straight stage. Euskaltel-Euskadi rider Jon Izaguirre moved into the overall lead, 1 second in front of Poland’s Rafal Majka, after the Spaniard collected a 10-second time bonus for topping the stage’s attractivity classification. Sky Pro Cycling’s Colombian rider Sergio Henao, who is being helped by last year’s Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins on his return to racing after injury and illness, is 5 seconds adrift in third. Yesterday’s penultimate stage was to see riders tackle a 192km route around Bukovina.
TENNIS
Player out on default
Russia’s Olga Puchkova was defaulted from her match at the Citi Open on Thursday after hitting a line judge in the knee with a ball after losing a point. Puchkova was forced to forfeit against Paula Ormaechea of Argentina while trailing 3-6, 6-3, 4-1 in their second-round match. Puchkova said in a statement released by the tournament that she was “sincerely sorry” that she “accidentally” hit the official. “I wasn’t looking where the tennis ball would go,” Puchkova said, adding that she apologized to the line judge. WTA supervisor Melanie Tabb said even though Puchkova insisted it was an accident, the rules still required her to be kicked out of the tournament. “I 100 percent believe her that that’s true — that she didn’t mean to do it. She wasn’t even looking in that direction ... She was just hitting the ball in frustration after she lost a point,” Tabb said. “It’s not just the intention” that matters, Tabb added. “It’s the result of her action. And she did hit the line [judge]. And he was bruised on his knee from the ball, because it was hit very hard.”
CRICKET
Pakistan to face Sri Lanka
Pakistan are to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20s against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates later this year. The Pakistan Cricket Board has been forced to organize its home series away — mainly in the UAE — because of security concerns of foreign teams to travel to Pakistan for the past four years. Sri Lanka was the last Test playing country to tour Pakistan in 2009, but was attacked by gunmen that left six police officials and a van driver dead.
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