■ SOCCER
Lazio ease relegation fears
Lazio eased their relegation fears and boosted their Champions League morale with a 2-0 win over Catania on Saturday. Tommaso Rocchi and Goran Pandev were on target in a timely tune-up ahead of their Champions League trip to Real Madrid tomorrow, where they have to win to have any hope of making the knockout round. "We have nothing left to lose at Real," Lazio coach Delio Rossi said. "There are teams far stronger than Lazio in the Champions League, but I know full well my lads will not let their heads drop." Fabrizio Miccoli and Fabio Simplicio's stunning goals gave Palermo a 2-0 win over Fiorentina who had to play the final 22 minutes with 10 men after Alessandro Gamberini went off injured and all three substitutions had already been used.
■ BOXING
Abraham stops Elcock
Undefeated Arthur Abraham stopped Wayne Elcock in the fifth round to retain his IBF middleweight title in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday. The Armenia-born German knocked down Elcock in the second round and then again in the fifth. The referee stopped the fight after Abraham landed a flurry of punches to the Englishman's head. Abraham -- who extended his record to 25-0 with 20 knockouts -- has been eyeing a unification bout against either Jermain Taylor or Kelly Pavlik next year in the US. The 27-year-old's only scare came in the third round, when an accidental head-butt opened up a cut above his right eye. But Elcock, 18-3, was unable to take advantage. "I'm happy that I won tonight," Abraham said. "It wasn't an easy fight."
■ SOCCER
Etoile Sahel edge Pachuca
Tunisia's Etoile Sahel overcame Mexico's Pachuca 1-0 at the Club World Cup yesterday to set up a lucrative semi-final against Boca Juniors. Midfielder Moussa Narry's deflected 25m drive five minutes from time finally settled an absorbing contest in favor of the African champions in Tokyo. Argentine giants Boca await Etoile on Wednesday. European champions AC Milan play either Japan's Urawa Reds or Iranian side Sepahan in the second semi-final on Thursday. Sepahan will be aiming to avenge their defeat by Urawa in last month's Asian Champions League final when the teams meet in Toyota today. Pachuca will consider themselves unlucky after sustained early pressure led to striker Juan Carlos Cacho crashing a header against the crossbar in the 15th minute. Christian Gimenez shaved the bar with a free kick, while defender Julio Manzur had a goal ruled out for offside midway through the second half for offside.
■ SKIING
Coach criticizes course
The women's World Cup downhill race should never have taken place because the course was dangerous and contributed to two skiers being injured, the head coach of the Austrian women's World Cup team has said. Four Austrian skiers withdrew after their team mate Alexandra Meissnitzer suffered a heavy crash, injuring her left knee. Later in the race France's Anne-Sophie Barthet also suffered a heavy fall and was left screaming after crashing into the side of the course -- a French team official said she had dislocated her knee and would spend the night in hospital having undergone minor surgery. "Meissnitzer has a bruised bone -- she was lucky actually," Austrian coach Herbert Mandl said at the team captain's meeting following the race.
■ SE ASIA GAMES
Thai fails drug test
A Thai field hockey player became the first athlete at the Southeast Asian Games to fail a drug test and has been expelled from the regional event, a games official said yesterday. The player, whose name was not immediately released, tested positive for steroids in a urine test, said Kanokphan Julakasem, head of the Sports Authority of Thailand. "I have signed the endorsement to punish the player who was found positive today," Kanokphan said.
■ FOOTBALL
Tebow wins Heisman Trophy
University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, making him the first first-or second-year player to take American college football's most prestigious award. Since 1935, when Jay Berwanger of Chicago won the first Heisman, every winner had been a junior or senior -- until Tebow. He beat out University of Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the first player since 1949 to finish second in consecutive seasons. Tebow received 1,957 points and 462 first-place votes to McFadden's 1,703 points and 291 first-place votes from sports writers and broadcasters.
■ BASEBALL
Fukudome rules out Giants
Highly coveted Japanese free agent Kosuke Fukudome has decided not to move to the Yomiuri Giants and will sign with a major league team instead, local media reported yesterday. Fukudome had previously indicated the Giants would be the only Japanese team he would consider playing for next season but has now ruled them out, opening the way for a move to the major leagues, the Nikkansports newspaper reported. Fukudome has drawn interest from the Chicago Cubs, the San Diego Padres and the Chicago White Sox. Fukudome, 30, is regarded as one of the best outfielders in Japanese professional baseball and was a key member of the Japan team that won the inaugural World Baseball Classic last year.
■ FORMULA ONE
Rosberg signs new deal
German driver Nico Rosberg has put an end to speculation that he might be gearing up for a move to McLaren by signing a new deal keeping him at Williams until 2009. Rosberg, whose best result from 35 grand prix was fourth in Brazil in October, said: "Williams have made me an attractive, far better offer with a new contract up to 2009 and I decided to accept it. For Williams the question of letting me go [to McLaren] never arose," the son of Finland's former champion Keke Rosberg told yesterday's edition of Bild. "I could imagine myself [joining McLaren] just like I could see myself at Ferrari in 2008. Every young driver wants a car that can bring you the title."
■ BOBSLEIGH
Holcomb completes sweep
Steven Holcomb completed a sweep of the World Cup bobsleigh races on his home Utah Olympic Park track on Saturday, edging Andre Lange of Germany by .09 seconds in the four-man event. Holcomb, joined by Pavle Jovanovic, Steve Mesler and Brock Kreitzburg, trailed Lange by .01 seconds after the first heat, but won with a combined time of 1:35.05. Lange and his team of Rene Hoppe, Kevin Kuske, and Martin Putze were second in 1:35.14, while third place went to Pierre Lueders of Canada and his team of Keb Kotyk, Lascelles Brown and Justin Kripps in 1:35.37. Holcomb leads the World Cup with 450 points.
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she sustained an abrasion on her left hip and that something “stabbed” her when she crashed during her second run of an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing. Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point, I just
CLASH OF MANAGERS: Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler and Russell Martin of Southampton accused each other of disrespect, while both were booked Southampton on Friday were denied a priceless victory by a controversial decision as they drew with hosts Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 in the Premier League. Kaoru Mitoma spectacularly headed Brighton into a first-half lead and Flynn Downes hammered home an equalizer an hour in. Minutes later teammate Cameron Archer converted a cross from Saints substitute Ryan Fraser. A video assistant referee check of more than four minutes eventually decided that Archer was onside, but then penalized Adam Armstrong, who was offside, but did not touch the ball, for interfering with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. “I find it hard to accept,” Southampton manager Russell Martin
Mary McGee, a female racing pioneer and subject profiled in an Oscar-contending documentary, Motorcycle Mary, has died, her family said. She was 87. “McGee’s unparalleled achievements in off-road racing and motorcycle racing have inspired generations of athletes that followed in her footsteps,” her family said in a statement. The family said McGee died of complications from a stroke at her home in Gardnerville, Nevada, on Wednesday, the day before the release of the short documentary Motorcycle Mary, on ESPN’s YouTube channel. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was an executive producer on the film, which became available globally on Thursday. Its premiere
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