■ SOCCER
Robson quits the Blades
Bryan Robson quit as manager of Championship strugglers Sheffield United on Thursday after rejecting an offer to become the Blades' director of football, a club statement said. The former England captain has been replaced by Kevin Blackwell, most recently in charge of cash-strapped Luton Town and before that Leeds United. Blackwell was also the Blades's assistant manager from 2000 to 2004. He will now be assisted by Sam Ellis. Both Robson and coach Brian Kidd left Bramall Lane on Thursday. The Blades, relegated from the Premier League last year, had won just one league match out of their last seven. They are now seven points off the relegation zone and fans protested against Robson after last Saturday's goalless draw with Scunthorpe.
■ CRICKET
Statue of Bird unveiled
Legendary cricket umpire Dickie Bird said he "never dreamed" of being immortalized in bronze as he unveiled a statue of himself in his home town of Barnsley, northern England. The 74-year-old took the wraps off a scale model of a six foot statue which features him in his trademark flat cap and with upraised finger giving a batsman out, that will stand in Barnsley from October. Replicas of the work will also be on display in Melbourne and Mumbai. "I have umpired at four World Cup finals and I was awarded an MBE [Member of the Order of the British Empirel] in 1986, but this moment is right up there with those," Bird said. "Growing up in Barnsley, I never dreamed there would be a statue of me in the middle of the town." He was not keen on the first model produced by sculptor Graham Ibbeson because it appeared too stern, but said he was happy with the artist's "second innings," remodeled to show Bird with a smiling face.
■ SOCCER
Fans threaten to boycott poll
Soccer and politics are proving to be a heady mix in Cyprus and could even swing the vote in presidential elections tomorrow. Polls show the contest is a dead heat between three key candidates, setting the stage for a re-run on Feb. 24 in a political contest which has often been decided by just a few hundred votes. But fans of Cyprus first division team Apollon Limassol have gone on the warpath over soccer officiating in a way the island's political elite cannot ignore. As many as 2,000 Apollon Limassol supporters have turned in their voter registration papers to their fan club and threatened to boycott the elections unless key soccer and refereeing officials are replaced. "That's about 0.8 to 0.9 percent of the electorate I think," said Panicos Zounieris, a spokesman for an Apollon supporters' club. "Fans won't vote unless we see justice done to our team. We will vote for Apollon instead."
■ SOCCER
Romario cleared of doping
Brazilian World Cup winner Romario was cleared of a doping offense and had a three-month suspension quashed on Thursday. The 42-year-old, who quit as player-coach of Vasco da Gama last week, had been banned for 120 days, but a five-man tribunal cleared the former striker who had tested positive for finasteride, a substance used to treat hair loss. Romario, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994, had failed the dope test on Oct. 28 after playing for Vasco against Palmeiras and was suspended on Dec. 18. Romario had said that if his suspension was not reduced, then he would call an end to his playing career on March 30, the date on which his contract ends.
■ GOLF
Rain wrecks day's play
Heavy overnight rain and wet grounds forced play at the New Zealand PGA Championship to be abandoned yesterday at the Clearwater Golf Club. Australasian and Nationwide tour officials said they will attempt to play the second round today and finish with 36 holes tomorrow. Canadian David Hearn and Americans Darron Stiles and Matt Bettencourt shot 6-under 66s on Thursday to share the lead after the first round. Americans D.A. Points, Rick Price and Dave Schultz opened with 67s, while Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open winner, shot a 70.
■ BASLKETBAL
Bulls charge to victory
Kirk Hinrich scored 24 points to lead the Chicago Bulls over Miami 99-92 and send the Heat to their 24th loss in 25 games despite solid outings by Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion on Thursday. Wade scored 30 after pouring in 29 in Tuesday's overtime loss to Denver. Marion had 23 in his third game with Miami since the deal that sent Shaquille O'Neal to Phoenix. But it wasn't enough to prevent the Heat from dropping their ninth straight. Joe Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago and Andres Nocioni scored 18. Sefolosho added 17 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulls also got 10 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks from Thomas, who started in place of Ben Wallace, who missed the game because of a death in his family.
■ FOOTBALL
Kids gain from Patriots' loss
Shirts and caps proclaiming the victory of the New England Patriots -- when the team actually lost the latest Super Bowl -- have ended up in the hands of poor Nicaraguan children. Hundreds of shirts and caps, which had been manufactured in advance to celebrate the Patriots' expected victory over the New York Giants, were handed over to children in the city of Diriamba. "The children are the winners," said Miriam Diaz, of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization. World Vision has links with the NFL and every year helps out poor children in Latin America and Africa with the unwanted "winners" shirts of the team that actually loses the Super Bowl. Winners' shirts and other garments are produced in advance so players and fans can put them on to celebrate immediately after the final whistle of the game.
■ TENNIS
Blake breezes past Chilean
US top seed James Blake used his precision serve and timely break point chances to breeze past Chile's Paul Capdeville 6-1, 6-4 in a second round match at the Delray Beach Championships on Thursday. Blake won 85 percent (11 of 13) of his first-serve points with a 68 percent serve percentage, denying the Chilean any break opportunities in a quick opening set. The world's No. 12 player worked harder in the second set, saving seven of eight break chances against Capdeville. Blake capitalized on both break chances of his own and served out the final game for the match. Blake was due to face Igor Kunitsyn in the quarter-finals yesterday. Third-seed Sam Querry moved on with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and was due to face compatriot Vince Spadea, who defeated Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
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
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
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