■ Soccer
Fan fined for racism
A British football fan was fined ?1,000 (US$1,818) on Wednesday and banned from soccer matches for five years after pleading guilty to racially abusing Birmingham City striker Dwight Yorke at a game against Blackburn Rovers. Police said Jason Perryman, 22, admitted in court to charges of racially aggravated offences against Yorke. A second man, David Ashcroft, 21, denied the same charges at Blackburn Magistrates Court and has been released on bail pending a pre-trial preview on Dec. 22. Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce said after Sunday's Premier League match at Ewood Park that Yorke had suffered monkey chants similar to those faced by England's black players during last week's 1-0 friendly defeat in Spain.
■ Hockey
Players get lock-out pay
The National Hockey League Players' Association will begin issuing lockout pay to more than 730 players. Payments will start this month, and players will get US$10,000 each for this month and another US$10,000 for next month, with subsequent monthly payments varying between US$5,000 or US$10,000, The Canadian Press reported. "As a result of the ongoing owners' lockout, the NHLPA executive committee has announced a player stipend plan which consists of an initial 24-month schedule and monthly payments for over 730 locked-out players," Ted Saskin, NHLPA senior director, said in a statement. "Each locked-out NHLPA member receives the same monthly payments." The National Hockey League club owners imposed a lockout on the players 70 days ago, refusing to let the season begin without a collective bargaining agreement.
■ Basketball
Carmelo almost ripped-off
A lawyer and two ex-convicts remained in a New York jail after being arraigned on charges of trying to use a videotape of a fistfight to blackmail Denver Nuggets basketball star Carmelo Anthony for US$3 million. The videotape supposedly depicts the Nuggets forward in a fight with someone after a dispute involving his girlfriend inside Club Babalu on West 44th Street on Sept. 13. Rodrigo Sanchez, 36, a lawyer who lives in South Orange, New Jersey, and Santos Joubert, 29, and Jason Pabon, 26, both of the Bronx, were held after arraignment on Wednesday in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of grand larceny and possession of stolen property. The three were arrested after a meeting on Tuesday inside the Trump International Hotel where a check for US$1.25 million was given to Pabon by an undercover detective.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
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