■ BOXING
Marquez to fight Pacquiao
Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez will defend his World Boxing Council super featherweight crown against Filipino star Manny Pacquiao on March 15 in Las Vegas, promoters announced on Thursday. The bout, backed by Golden Boy promotions, is a rematch of a 2004 draw in which Pacquiao knocked Marquez to the canvas three times in the first round. One judge scored the fight for each boxer and the third had the matchup even. Marquez, 34, is 48-3 with one drawn and 35 knockouts while Pacquiao, who turns 29 next month, is 45-3 with two drawn and 35 knockouts.
■ SOCCER
Beckham to play in Hawaii
David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy will lead a four-team field for the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship exhibition tournament in Hawaii in February. The event will also include Japanese champions Gamba Osaka, the Major League Soccer Cup champions Houston Dynamo and a team from the Australian A-League Final Series. The tournament will feature a pair of doubleheaders on Feb. 20 and Feb. 23, with the first day's winners playing for the title and the losers for third place. Gamba Osaka will open the tournament against the Galaxy, with Houston facing the Australian team.
■ BIATHLON
Defrasne wins in Finland
France's Vincent Defrasne won the season's first event in the men's biathlon World Cup, a 20km race in Kontiolahti, Finland, on Thursday. Defrasne, last year's Olympic pursuit champion, produced a faultless shooting display on his four visits to the range to secure his third World Cup victory. He finished the course 23.6 seconds ahead of Norwegian Halvard Hanevold with Maxim Tchudov of Russia almost seven seconds further adrift in third. Defrasne, 30, was one of only two biathletes in the field of 120 not to miss a target, and showed his off-season focus on honing his skiing technique had paid dividends.
■ BASKETBALL
Jackson extends contract
Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he has agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension believed to be worth about US$24 million, putting him under contract through the 2009-2010 season. The Hall of Fame coach announced his decision and discussed his contract situation before Thursday's game against Denver. He said it was likely to be his last contract. "I was in my 50s in the last era, I'm in my 60s in this era and maybe I can go on into my 70s," he said. "But I really don't think so. I'm losing a step as I go -- mentally and physically. Being abreast of all these kids is not an easy task. I can hardly speak their language, but I'm trying."
■ RUGBY UNION
Laporte backs Japanese bid
France's secretary of state for sport, Bernard Laporte, has backed Japan's bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup, saying it would help internationalize the game. Laporte, who coached his country's national team at this year's World Cup hosted by France, said that bringing the tournament to Japan was "in the sport's global interest." He said that while he was not involved in voting at the International Rugby Board, "I think it would be good for Japan to organize the World Cup, as this is a rugby nation. To organize the World Cup, the priority is to have stadiums and the infrastructure is there. Rugby also needs this continent," he told reporters late on Thursday on a visit to Tokyo.
■ CRICKET
Injury ends Bichel's season
Former Test bowler Andy Bichel will miss the remainder of the Australian season after surgery on his right shoulder yesterday, Queensland Cricket said. The surgery will sideline the 37-year-old paceman until the start of next summer. Bichel injured his shoulder throwing a ball while fielding during a club match at the start of the southern summer.
■ Basketball
Scandal-hit star dies
Ralph Beard, an All-American guard for the University of Kentucky in the 1940s and a key figure in college basketball's biggest betting scandal, has died. He was 79. Beard, who helped the Wildcats win national championships in the 1948 and 1949 died early on Thursday. After two years in the NBA, and before the start of the 1952 season, Beard was among several players involved in a point-shaving scandal that rocked college basketball and admitted to shaving points while at Kentucky. He received a suspended sentence, but was banned for life from the NBA.
■ Rugby Union
Players in quokka shocker
Two players from Australia's Western Force Super 14 club have been disciplined after mishandling small animals during a team bonding session. Scott Fava and Richard Brown were fined and ordered to undergo counselling for alcohol abuse after being found guilty of handling quokkas, a rare Australian marsupial listed as a protected species. Although investigators found there was no evidence to suggest the players intended to harm the quokkas, RugbyWA's Misconduct Committee found them guilty of offenses including being drunk in public at a pre-season training camp on Rottnest Island.
■ Sumo
Asashoryu back in Japan
Troubled grand champion Asashoryu returned yesterday to Japan where he was bracing for an earful from the sumo world, three months after he fled to his native Mongolia. He arrived at Narita airport near Tokyo to a crowd of more than 100 waiting reporters and photographers. Asashoryu was banned from the sumo world until the end of last month after he infuriated sumo fans by cheerfully playing a soccer match after skipping a regional tour, an obligation for all sumo wrestlers. Asashoryu fled to Mongolia to wait out his time after doctors said he was depressed. He was scheduled to speak to the press at the Ryogoku National Studium in Tokyo later in the day for the first time since July 30 amid calls for an apology over his conduct.
■ Soccer
Okada to lead Japan
The Japan Football Association said yesterday it had picked Takeshi Okada, who coached Japan at their first World Cup in 1998, to return to the job to replace the ailing Ivica Osim. He takes charge as Japan prepare for next year's campaign to win a berth in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Okada will be formally appointed by an executive board meeting next Friday, an association spokeswoman said. Osim suffered a serious stroke on Nov. 16 and is only now emerging from a coma. Okada was first appointed Japan's coach in 1997 and despite limited experience at the time, developed a reputation for being able to take tough decisions and sideline senior players if necessary. After coaching the national team, Okada managed Consadole Sapporo in the J-League second division in 1999. He then moved to the Yokohama F Marinos, winning two championships before he stepped down last year.
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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