■ TENNIS
Mirza to skip Bangalore
Sania Mirza, Asia's top-ranked women's player, plans to skip the Bangalore Open tennis tournament next month to avoid possible controversies in her home country. Mirza, ranked 29th, said she was advised by her management to skip the US$600,000 tournament, which is billed as the richest in India. "Every time I play in India there is a problem. Considering all that, I thought it would be better not to play in Bangalore," Mirza was quoted as saying yesterday in the Times of India.
■ JUDO
Tani has `brain revolution'
Japan's double Olympic judo gold medalist Ryoko Tani has hit upon an unusual idea to prepare for this year's Beijing Games -- a neurological kick-start. Busy being a mother since winning her second successive gold in Athens four years ago, Tani has turned to scientific methods to help sharpen up for an attempt on an Olympic treble. The pint-sized judoka will spend three days listening to lectures from brain specialists in Paris, Japanese media reported yesterday, some under the headline "Tani's Brain Revolution!"
■ RUGBY UNION
England call up three players
England coach Brian Ashton called up three players to his Six Nations squad on Monday, two days after its shock loss to Wales in the Six Nations. Ashton brought in uncapped scrumhalf Lee Dickson, promoted Shane Geraghty from the second-tier England Saxons team and recalled Magnus Lund, who was cut from England's initial World Cup squad. England plays Italy in Rome on Sunday. England relinquished a 19-6 lead to lose 26-19 at home to Wales on Saturday. During the game, England lost winger David Strettle, back rows Lewis Moody and Tom Rees and center Mike Tindall with injuries. All four are almost certainly ruled out for Italy, while Tindall could be out for the tournament after checking into the hospital Sunday with bruising to his liver.
■ FIELD HOCKEY
Argentina remain unbeaten
Brothers Lucas and Rodrigo Vila scored a goal apiece to help Argentina remain unbeaten after the third round of a six-nation men's field hockey Olympic qualifying tournament yesterday. Argentina, ranked No. 7 in the world, rallied to beat France 4-2 and to move closer to a place in Sunday's final, the winner of which qualifies for the Beijing Olympics. New Zealand maintained its unbeaten record and stayed on track to meet Argentina in the final when it beat the US 4-0, while Ireland downed Trinidad and Tobago 7-2.
■ SKIING
Palander cuts season short
Slalom specialist Kalle Palander of Finland has cut his season short to undergo surgery on a stress fracture of his shin. Palander, who has 14 World Cup victories to his name -- the latest coming as recently as last December's giant slalom in the Italian resort of Alta Badia, underwent the operation in Helsinki on Monday. "It's not a major operation, but the timing's not great. His season is over. The fracture was bad and the pain recurring," Finnish ski federation spokeswoman Soili Hirvonen said. The 31-year-old Palander, who was crowned world slalom champion in 1999 and 2003 World Cup champion in the discipline, still intends to compete in his fourth winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, Hirvonen said.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
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