■ Soccer
Gazza changes his name
Call him "the soccer player formerly known as Gazza." Paul Gascoigne, known affectionately by fans as "Gazza," says he wants to be called G8 -- a combination of the first letter of his last name and his old England shirt number. "G8 is right for us now," Gascoigne said. "It sounds a bit like great, or at least it does with my Geordie accent." Gascoigne said the name change would help put his troubled past behind him. He earned 57 caps with the England team and starred in the 1990 World Cup. However, a bout with alcoholism derailed a promising career. His wife, Sheryl, divorced him in 1998 after allegations that he hit her. Gascoigne says he has been free of alcohol for 22 months. Gascoigne quit as player-manager of Boston United on Oct. 5 after just two months at the helm.
■ Cricket
Ponting to guard his thumb
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said yesterday he will consider wearing a guard to protect his thumb in a bid to play a role in the Test cricket series against India. Ponting, who has missed the first two Tests in the four-match series on the sub-continent, broke his left thumb while fielding during Australia's six-wicket loss to England in the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal at Edgbaston. He flies out on today in the hope of playing in the fourth and final Test against Sourav Ganguly's Indians in Mumbay, starting on Nov. 3. "I'll test things out when I first get there. The first couple of days when I get there I'll just go pretty easily with catching and fielding drills," Ponting said. Australia lead the series 1-0 after winning the opening Test in Bangalore and drawing the second Madras Test after rain washed out the final day's play last Monday.
■ Rugby
Woodward chooses team
British and Irish Lions coach Clive Woodward has named a record 26-strong management team for next year's tour of New Zealand including his England successor Andy Robinson and former Lions' coach Ian McGeechan. He has also recruited Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan and Llanelli Scarlets coach Gareth Jenkins in the largest support party in Lions' history. "Whether on the coaching, medical, fitness, media, logistics or legal side of things it's about creating the right blend and a support structure to give us the best opportunity to be successful in New Zealand," Woodward said. The party includes seven specialist rugby coaches, including World Cup-winning England coach Woodward himself, plus two fitness trainers. He also has a lawyer, two doctors, three physiotherapists and a masseur. The Lions will play three tests against the All Blacks and eight other games on the tour which takes place from May to July.
■ Athletics
Doping case still hanging
Greek prosecutors have delayed announcing their findings into whether the country's top sprinters faked a road accident in a doping scandal that rocked the Athens Olympics, a prosecution source said on Wednesday. Chief Prosecutor Dimitris Papangelopoulos is now expected to decide whether to press charges against the pair and their coach later in the week instead of on Wednesday as had been thought. On Tuesday, headlines rang out with news that attackers had stabbed and beaten sports editor Filippos Sirigos, a key witness in the investigation into Olympic champion Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
Shin Oebori coaches the Fukagawa Hawks youth baseball team in Tokyo, and he is very aware how Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani touches his players. “With Ohtani, the kids think everything is possible,” Oebori said, wrapping up practice yesterday on an all-dirt field set alongside a local Buddhist temple, below an elevated highway, and in the shadow of tall apartment blocks in central Tokyo. “Nothing is impossible with him. A dream is not a dream,” Oebori said, stepping out of the fenced practice field that keeps balls from landing on the temple grounds. None of the players hitting sponge-soft baseball has reached
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
CRICKET Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as
RSS