■ 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.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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