■ FOOTBALL
Wilson punches girlfriend
Cedrick Wilson, a receiver with seven years of National Football League experience, was dropped by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, a day after he was arrested in a bar incident. Wilson was charged with assault, harassment and disorderly conduct after allegedly hitting his former girlfriend on Wednesday night. He was arraigned and released on US$10,000 bail. Police said witnesses saw Wilson enter the bar, walk to the seat of Lindsey Paulat, the 26-year-old mother of his one-year-old daughter, and tap her on the shoulder before hitting her on the left side of her face. Paulat is awaiting a hearing on firearm charges after a 12-hour standoff with police on Jan. 19. After an argument with Wilson, she allegedly fired two gunshots in his house. Wilson, 29, applied for a protection from abuse order two days later, saying he feared she would shoot him.
■ ICE HOCKEY
Player sentenced over drugs
Finnish former NHL player Jere Karalahti was given a 20-month suspended sentence on Thursday for being an accessory in a drug smuggling operation. The district court in Espoo, Finland, found Karalahti, 32, guilty of helping finance the smuggling of amphetamines and cocaine from Estonia into Finland last year, in a case involving 18 others. He was also fined 10,000 euros (US$16,000). Karalahti, who was found guilty of providing 20,000 euros for smuggling operations, said he gave the money to pay back an old debt to a friend. Karalahti left the NHL in 2002 after being suspended for six months for his third violation of the league's substance abuse policy.
■ TENNIS
WTA match live on Web<br />
The WTA Tour's Web site will broadcast a live women's tennis match -- in select countries -- for free for the first time this weekend. The women's professional tour said on Thursday it would stream the women's final at the Pacific Life Open live on its Web site, SonyEricssonWTATour.com. The live feed, however, will not be available in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia or any country in Europe. "We have broadcast agreements in place already [in those countries]," said Roger Gatchalian, the WTA's director of digital media. The women's final at the Pacific Life Open is scheduled for Sunday at 7pm GMT in Indian Wells, California. Gatchalian said this weekend's match is the first of eight Tier I tournament finals that the WTA plans to stream live. Next year, viewing live matches on the site could cost money.
■ RUGBY UNION
Crusaders beat Waratahs
The first-place Canterbury Crusaders scored four unanswered tries in the last 27 minutes to beat the New South Wales Waratahs 34-7 in a Super 14 rugby match yesterday. Canterbury led 6-0 at halftime, with only two penalties to Daniel Carter to show for domination of territory and possession, but ran away with the match in the second half as New South Wales' defensive performance steadily weakened. New South Wales scored the first try of the match in the 45th minute to lead 7-6 but Canterbury fought back to take the match with tries to Casey Laulala, Mose Tuiali'i, Wyatt Crockett and Scott Hamilton. The win left the Crusaders unbeaten through six rounds of this season's Super 14 and in clear possession of the championship lead.
■ GOLF
Ogilvy, Jimenez share lead
Geoff Ogilvy capitalized on a generous wind and shot a bogey-free round of 7-under 65 on Thursday, giving him a share of the the first-round lead at the CA Championship in Doral, Florida. He and Miguel Angel Jimenez birdied the final hole to top the leaderboard, two strokes ahead of Tiger Woods. One shot off the lead was Stewart Cink. Woods made a late charge as the skies darkened and rain began to fall, making three birdies over four holes to get within one shot. His day ended bitterly, however, when he three-putted from 70 feet for a 67. Phil Mickelson rallied from a double bogey in the water with four birdies over his final six holes to match Woods at 67, and they were joined by Adam Scott.
■ Soccer
Bucharest derby abandoned
Steaua Bucharest could be handed an unexpected Romanian league win after a derby against city rivals Rapid was ended early by the referee on Thursday when he was struck on the head. Hosts Rapid were leading 1-0 after a 68th minute opener but the match was stopped only minutes later when referee Alexandru Deaconu brought his hands up to his head after being apparently struck by an object. Deaconu went to the touchline to speak to one match official, and re-emerged saying that the match would be stopped if any more missiles hit the pitch. As he walked back to the center circle another object flew past, forcing the referee's decision to end the match in the 73rd minute and handing Steaua a possible three points.
■ Soccer
Lyon fined over laser pen
UEFA fined French champion Lyon US$5,000 on Thursday because a fan aimed a laser pen at Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo during a match. Television replays showed a circle of bright, green light shining on the Portugal international during the first half of United's Champions League game at Stade Gerland on Feb. 20. The fine was imposed for "incidents of an unsporting nature," UEFA said in a statement. Manchester United staff reported the laser pen being directed from the stands before and during the match. A UEFA delegate and the match referee submitted files to the European governing body's control and disciplinary committee, which gave its verdict on Thursday. There was no suggestion Ronaldo's health could have been affected.
■ Cricket
Jayawardena talks positive
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena is confident his team's improved form away from home will provide the momentum for his country's first Test series victory in the Caribbean when they start a two Test series today in Guyana. "We've been competing really well away from home, which has been an issue for a number of years for us," Jayawardena said on Thursday. "We've been dominating at home but away from home we have started winning matches. We've been very consistent." Sri Lanka, ranked as the No. 3 team in Test cricket, toured the West Indies in 1997 and 2003 and lost each two-Test series 1-0. Jayawardena said that a stronger mental approach has helped turn around his team's record on foreign soil. "It's a lot to do with mental preparation. I think home conditions, we are very comfortable with, we're used to. But when we went away from home, we found it difficult settling into those kind of conditions," Jayawardena said. "But the last three, four or five years I think we've settled nicely, fought very well and competed with the opposition.
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
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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