■SOCCER
Hleb signs for Barcelona
Belarus international midfielder Alexander Hleb signed for Catalan giants Barcelona from English Premier League side Arsenal for 15 million euros (US$23.8 million) on Wednesday on a four-year contract that will see him team up again with another former Gunner, Thierry Henry. The move could cost another 2 million euros depending on the player’s performances, whilst should he wish to leave before his contract ends it would cost the club wishing to buy him 90 million euros. “I love this club [Barcelona]” said Hleb, who joined Arsenal from VfB Stuttgart in 2005. “I spoke with [coach Josep] Guardiola and it was very important for me to learn how much he wanted me,” Hleb said. “I will give my best for this team and I want to win everything with Barca.” Hleb’s departure from Arsenal follows that of fellow midfielder Mathieu Flamini, who signed for AC Milan earlier this summer, and is likely to be followed by that of 2002 World Cup winning midfielder Gilberto Silva, who is expected to move to Greek outfit Panathinaikos.
■CRICKET
Thieves target signed bats
Four valuable cricket bats signed by Australian batting legend Sir Donald Bradman have been stolen from a sports shop, police said yesterday. The bats, together valued at A$40,000 (US$39,000), were taken from a shop in the northern city of Darwin. Thieves smashed in a front window, police said. Shop manager Graeme Flesfadar said the bats were part of a rare set of memorabilia and were irreplaceable. Thieves had clearly targeted them specially. “They knew exactly what they were after. They didn’t touch the till,” he said, saying the set was being kept for his children. “It was being put aside for my kids. I just want it back. Money is not going to replace it.” Darwin police official Gavin Kennedy said it would be hard to sell the items within Australia without being caught and expressed optimism the thieves would be tracked down. Bradman, who died in 2001 at the age of 92, is regarded as the greatest batsman of all time.
■TENNIS
US Open line-up announced
Four-time defending champion Roger Federer and Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal lead the men’s field for the US Open announced on Wednesday. Former US Open champions Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin will also be in the field for the Aug. 25 to Sept. 7 tournament in New York. Nadal, fresh off a thrilling defeat of Federer at the All England Club and a more comprehensive win at Roland Garros, has a chance to become the fifth man to win the final three majors of the season. Rod Laver did it in his Grand Slam years of 1962 and 1969, Don Budge won a slam in 1938 and Tony Trabert won just the three in 1955. Federer will be trying to become the first man to win this Grand Slam tournament five straight times in the Open era.
■CRICKET
Black Caps search for coach
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) yesterday launched a worldwide search for a new national coach to replace John Bracewell, who is returning to England. Bracewell has said he will not look to renew his New Zealand contract when it expires in nine months, but will instead begin a second stint in charge at English county Gloucestershire. NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said in a statement he wanted to hear from “suitably qualified candidates from throughout the world. We are looking for candidates who have the experience and drive to both improve the Black Caps in both forms of the game.”
■BOXING
Fighter promised promotion
Harry Tanamor, the Philippines’ sole boxing hope in the Beijing Games, will get a cash reward and promotion if he brings home the country’s first Olympic gold, the military said yesterday. Chief of Staff General Alexander Yano made the commitment when he met Tanamor, an army sergeant, and the rest of the 15-member Philippine Olympic contingent on Wednesday, a military spokesman said. Asked if Tanamor would get a one-rank promotion if he won gold, Yano said “probably not just one rank. You know, in the Olympics, the best finish we had in boxing was a silver medal.” Yano said that four of the 15 athletes going to Beijing were from the military, but did not say if a similar promotion awaited them.
■SOCCER
China axes coach Dujkovic
China has axed Serbia’s Ratomir Dujkovic as Olympic soccer coach just three weeks before the start of the Beijing Games. Dujkovic, who has been running the under-23 Olympic team since late 2006, has been moved into another job and replaced by Yin Tiesheng, said Li Xuan, media officer of the Chinese Olympic soccer team. “Dujkovic will analyze the opponents and provide advice to the coach. The decision was announced to team this morning by Chinese Football Association chairman Xie Yalong,” Li said yesterday. Yin, 52, was coach of Chinese league team Qingdao and was head coach of China’s men’s under-20 team in 2004. Li did not give a reason for the change. There was no immediate comment from Dujkovic.
■ATHLETICS
McLellan wins diamond
Australian sprinter Sally McLellan set a new national 100m hurdles record on Wednesday and won a US$15,000 diamond in the process. The 21-year-old from Queensland clocked 12.58 seconds to shave 13-hundredths of a second off the previous best she set in Osaka, Japan, last year. Her victory came over reigning Olympic champion Joanna Hayes of the US, who finished second by eight-hundredths of a second. The record run earned McLellan the “Diamond Jackpot,” a one-carat diamond offered by meet organizers in Lucerne, Switzerland, for the best performance of the night.
■FOOTBALL
Packers challenge Vikings
The Green Bay Packers have filed tampering charges against the Minnesota Vikings with the National Football League, FoxSports.com reported on Wednesday. The Vikings were informed last week that the Packers allege quarterback Brett Favre has had inappropriate conversations with Minnesota offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, a close friend of the quarterback and former assistant coach with the Packers, the report said. The Vikings deny any wrongdoing. Should Minnesota be found guilty of tampering, it could lose draft picks, face fines or both.
■MOTOGP
Pedrosa to race in US
MotoGP world championship contender Dani Pedrosa will race at this weekend’s US Grand Prix despite having undergone surgery for injuries sustained in a crash at the last race. The Honda rider flew to the US on Wednesday after being discharged from a Barcelona hospital, where he had arthroscopic surgery the previous day. The Spaniard had fractured his left wrist and index finger and sprained his right ankle in a high-speed crash at Sunday’s German GP.
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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