■ FORMULA ONE
Webber surgery successful
Surgery to pin the broken right leg of Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber has been a success, his spokesman said yesterday’s. Red Bull driver Webber, 32, was riding a mountain bike when he collided with a four-wheel drive while competing in his own multi-sport charity event in Tasmania on Saturday. Geoff Donohue, spokesman for the Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge, said Hobart Private Hospital doctors had inserted rods to mend the breaks in his lower right tibia and fibula. It was not known at this stage when Webber would be able to leave hospital, he said. “He’s feeling sharp and spritely, all things considered,” Donohue said.
■ SKIING
Swedes win World Cup
Marcus Hellner and Charlotte Kalla of Sweden delighted home fans by winning their World Cup cross-country ski openers on Saturday. Hellner edged Pietro Piller Cottrer of Italy by 1.4 seconds in the men’s 15km freestyle while Kalla outclassed runnerup Marit Bjorgen of Norway by 24.4 seconds in the women’s 10k free. Hellner, a 23-year-old who has been on the national team for three years, covered the men’s race in 32:35.2. “This is wonderful,” Hellner said after his first World Cup win. “I’m totally exhausted. The fans were incredible and supported me so well throughout the race. I heard that only seconds separated us. When I heard the fans roar I understood that I had won the race.” Lukas Bauer, the defending World Cup overall champion from the Czech Republic, finished ninth, 29.7 seconds behind.
■ ATHLETICS
Hurdler to undergo surgery
China’s Liu Xiang, whose heartbreaking injury misery was one of the defining images of the Beijing Olympics, will undergo surgery on his troublesome right foot in the US at the end of next month. The 2004 Olympic 110m hurdles champion, who limped out of the Bird’s Nest Stadium in the Chinese capital before the start of his heats in August, will have the operation in Houston, Texas. “I have consulted a number of specialists in China and abroad and based on their unanimous advice, I have taken this decision,” said Liu, who was in Manaco to attend the end of season International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) gala yesterday. Former world champion Liu, with coach Sun Haping at his side, said that he had been suffering for many years as a result of calcification between the heel and the bone of his foot.
■ CYCLING
Australia wins UCI series
Australia’s national team won the Melbourne round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics series on Saturday. Australia, with 112 points, edged out compatriots Team Toshiba, who scored 98 points over three days of competition. Australian Shane Perkins went one better than his Manchester World Cup silver earlier this month to claim the men’s sprint with a straight heats win over Frenchman Michael D’Almedia. Spain’s Unai Elorrriage Zubiaur and David Muntaner Juaneda won the men’s 40km Madison, with Australia’s Cameron Meyer and CJ Sutton taking the silver and the German team of Henning Bommel and Fabian Schaar third. Great Britain’s Elizabeth Armitstead, Katie Colclough and Joanna Rowsell claimed the women’s team pursuit in 3:29.890 ahead of Australia’s Josephine Tomic, Sarah Kent and Ashlee Ankudin (3:30.506). Willy Kanis of the Netherlands took the women’s 500m time trial, posting a time of 34.657 with Jie Jie Gong of China (34.676) second.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barca secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barca a 2-0 win over
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