■ Pool
Singaporean left cueless
Singaporean pool player Charlene Chai has found herself very much behind the eight ball days before the Asian Games begins after losing her cue. Chai, a South-east Asia Games bronze medalist, is one of Singapore's brightest medal prospects for the Dec. 1-15 games in Doha, but her preparations have been rocked by the loss. The pool player left the tools of her trade in the car park of Singapore's Changi airport on Monday after returning from a competition in Japan. Chai is desperately trying to get used to her new cue before leaving for Qatar, her coach said, but had not given up hope that someone may return her trusty favorite.
■ Soccer
Club cracks down on diving
English fourth division club Torquay United said on Tuesday they will start taking disciplinary action against any of their players who dive or feign injury. Torquay, who believe they are the first professional club in the world to begin such an initiative, will operate a "three strikes and out" policy and use video technology to prove cases. First-time offenders will be warned, players who dive again will be fined and third-time offenders sacked or placed on the transfer list. "British football has the opportunity to take a lead in resolving this major issue which is tarnishing our sport and marred the World Cup finals in Germany 2006," Torquay chairman Chris Roberts said in a statement.
■ Cycling
Wyper convicted over drugs
A former Australian team cyclist has been convicted of illegally importing performance enhancing drugs from Indonesia. Andrew Wyper, 21, was convicted and fined on Tuesday in Sydney's Downing Center Local Court for illegally importing the drugs, the Australian Customs Service said yesterday. The court was told the customs service intercepted a parcel from Indonesia in November last year containing four vials of anabolic steroids, seven vials of human growth hormone and a syringe marked as containing the hormone EPO, or erythropoietin, sometimes used as a blood doping agent. Wyper was part of the Australian team that competed at the 2003 world road championships in Canada and part of the Australian team that went to the 2003 world junior track championships in Russia.
■ Soccer
Blackburn duo lose claims
Blackburn's Tugay and Tottenham's Hossam Ghaly have both had their claims for wrongful dismissal rejected by an independent disciplinary commission, the Football Association (FA) announced on Tuesday. Both midfielders were sent off during Sunday's 1-1 Premiership draw at Ewood Park. Turkish international Tugay, 36, opened the scoring for Rovers before his foul on Ghaly led to the visitors' equalizer with Jermain Defoe scoring from the penalty spot. Tugay will now serve a one-match suspension as a result. Egypt's Ghaly, 24, was sent off after he appeared to elbow Michael Gray late in the game. He will serve a three-match suspension.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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