■ BOXING
Mundine to fight compatriot
Anthony Mundine said yesterday he will defend his WBA super-middleweight world title against fellow Australian Nader Hamdan in Sydney on Feb. 27. Mundine, who won his second title defense against Argentine Jose Alberto Clavero on Dec. 12, has won 30 fights (23 by knockout) with three defeats. Hamdan, 33, has lost three of his last five fights to take his record to 40-5. Hamdan has never had a crack at a world title in his 10-year professional career, but Mundine insists his mate is "the real deal." "I wouldn't take a fight if I thought he was going to be another easy opponent," Mundine said yesterday.
■ SKYDIVING
World champ hospitalized
World champion skydiver Loic Jean-Albert is recovering in a hospital after crashing on Tuesday, newspapers reported. The 30-year-old Frenchman crashed near Wanaka on New Zealand's South Island during a speed riding session. Speed riding involves skydivers traveling low to the ground around a preset slalom course. Jean-Albert was able to complete the course before seeking treatment from paramedics, the Southland Times reported. The newspaper said Jean-Albert, the world speed riding champion, was in a stable condition in hospital with pelvic injuries.
■ CRICKET
Players face taxing problem
India players are angry that earnings on their current tour of Australia will be taxed by local authorities. Newspapers reported on Wednesday that new Australia tax laws mean up to A$1.5 million (US$1.29 million) in payments and tour fees paid to Indian players will be claimed by federal taxes. The players do not pay taxes on those earnings in India but only on income from sponsorships, the newspapers reported. Tax laws imposed in July 2004 require all entertainers and sportsmen working in Australia to pay taxes. India team media manager MK Shridhar said the Board of Control for Cricket in India was looking at ways to get around the tax problem.
■ RUGBY UNION
England star may be jailed
England outside-half Olly Barkley risks a potential prison sentence after being charged with assault over an alleged attack on a fellow guest at a wedding in July. Barkley, who was a member of England's World Cup squad in France this year, will appear before a Magistrates' Court at Aylesbury near London on Dec. 31 to answer charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The offence carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and an unlimited fine. Pending his appearance in court, Barkley will be free to carry on playing for his English Premiership club, Bath, who stressed that the player would be contesting the charges. "Olly vigorously contests wrongdoing on his part, as he has done from the outset," a statement said.
■ TENNIS
Federer, Henin win awards
Roger Federer and Justine Henin are Tennis magazine's 2007 players of the year. It's the fifth consecutive time Federer has won the monthly publication's award. "Roger's serve is more of a weapon than it may appear, and that forehand is deadly," Pete Sampras writes in the January-February issue. "What most impressed me, though was the speed at which he can go from defense to offense. His ability to take command from any place on the court, at any stage of a point, may be his greatest gift of all.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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