■ ATHLETICS
101-year-old to run marathon
Already Britain's oldest employee, 101-year-old Buster Martin now aims to become the world's oldest marathon runner by completing the London Marathon and celebrating with a pint of beer and a cigarette. Sprightly and bearded, he completed a half marathon last weekend in 5 hours, 13 minutes. The former Army physical training instructor works three days a week for a London plumbing company. "I've said I'll attempt it," he said. "I haven't said I'll complete it. If I do make it, all the better." His sponsorship money will go to the Rhys Daniels Trust, which provides temporary accommodation for the families of patients in specialist children's hospitals. "If I finish, I'll do what I always do and have a pint and a fag," he said. "People ask what is my secret but I haven't got one. They say fags and booze are bad for you -- but I'm still here, aren't I?"
■ SOCCER
Sheffield hero Dooley dies
Derek Dooley, a hero to fans of both Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, has died at the age of 78, it was announced on Wednesday. Dooley, born in Sheffield, had the unusual distinction of being a popular figure with supporters of both the northern English city's two major clubs, having starred for Wednesday as a striker before his playing career was ended prematurely by a broken leg, which later had to be amputated. After a couple of appearances for Lincoln City, Dooley joined Wednesday in 1947 and became a prolific scorer for the Owls. But in 1953 he broke his leg in a collision during a game and his career was over. He returned to Hillsborough as manager between 1971 and 1973 before being controversially sacked on Christmas Eve 1973. Dooley then joined Sheffield United, initially as commercial manager and carried out a number of backroom roles at Bramall Lane, including that of chairman, before retiring in 2006.
■ ROWING
Oldest rower set for race
Former US rowing champion Michael Wherley will become the oldest rower to take part in the Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race when he competes for Oxford later this month. A triple world champion in the Men's Eight, Wherley will be 36 when Britain's oldest universities meet for the 154th time on the Thames on March 29. Wherley told reporters on Wednesday he was not quite at his physical peak. However, he put this down to a lack of sleep and a three-year break from competing rather than to his age. "Sometimes it's just harder to recover from the training, but it's not necessarily harder to do it," he said.
■ SKIING
Bauer takes World Cup title
Czech cross country skier Lukas Bauer has won the overall nordic skiing World Cup title this season despite missing Wednesday's sprint in Drammen, Norway. Olympic 15km classic silver medalist Bauer cannot be caught by his leading rival Rene Sommerfeldt after the German also withdrew.
■ SAILING
Bad weather hits race
Pelting rain and gusting winds forced the cancelation of Wednesday's racing at the 81st Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta on Biscayne Bay. With three of six races completed, Iain Percy, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist in the Finn class, and Andrew Simpson of Britain remain in first place overall. "We just got caught in a nasty storm and by the time it cleared up a bit, the fleet had scattered over a 16km radius," Percy said.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
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