■ 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
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
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
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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