Thu, Mar 12, 2009 page19

• Sports Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■SKI-JUMPING

  Japanese veteran wins

  Takanobu Okabe became the oldest winner of a ski-jumping World Cup event in history on Tuesday when the 38-year-old won an event on the large hill in Kuopio, Finland. Just 24 hours after Finland’s Janne Ahonen announced that he was returning to the sport after less than a year in retirement, the Japanese jumper celebrated the fifth World Cup victory of his career with jumps of 123.5m and 123m for a total of 241.7 points. Switzerland’s Simon Ammann came second on 240.4 points after jumps of 119.5m and 126m with Adam Malysz of Poland claiming third on 239.3 after jumps of 119m and 127m. Okabe last enjoyed victory 11 years ago in a ski-flying event in Vikersund, Norway.

  ■BASEBALL

  Defectors star in video game

  Havana on Tuesday debuted a baseball video game that includes famous Cuban-born defectors long expunged from official memory here after they abandoned the communist island to play in the US. The country’s first baseball video game, MVP Cuba 1.0, features a number of Cuban stars who triumphed in the US major leagues, including star pitchers Orlando Hernandez — nicknamed “El Duque” — and Jose Contreras. The game was unveiled at a state information science center over the weekend, Juventud Rebelde daily newspaper reported.

  ■RUGBY UNION

  Serge Blanco in heart scare

  Former France great Serge Blanco, current president of Top 14 side Biarritz, underwent an operation on Monday after complaining about feeling unwell, former club president Marcel Martin said on Tuesday. “Serge Blanco was hospitalized as a precaution on Sunday night and had what I would call a standard operation on Monday morning,” Martin said. “It wasn’t a heart attack, properly speaking,” Martin said, before adding that Blanco “responded well to the operation and is recovering well.” Blanco, 50, won 93 caps for his country in the 1980s and early 1990s. He still holds the record number of tries scored for his country at 38.

  ■SOCCER

  Promotion contenders held

  English Championship leaders Wolverhampton and their fellow promotion contenders Birmingham and Reading were all held to draws on Tuesday. The three teams, all vying to reach the lucrative Premier League, dropped points that could yet prove valuable in their quest to reach the top-flight. Wolves were held to a goalless draw at home to Ipswich Town, while Birmingham suffered a late scare at lowly Barnsley before playing out a 1-1 draw. Reading, third in the table, came from behind to lead against bottom-of-the-table Charlton only to be held to a 2-2 draw away to the struggling Londoners. Norwich beat Cardiff 2-0 at Carrow Road to take them to within two points of safety while relegation rivals Southampton, who dropped down to second-bottom, drew 1-1 with Derby County.

  ■SAILING

  Mendelblatt, Prada move up

  Mark Mendelblatt, the 2005 Bacardi Cup champion and America’s Cup tactician, and crew Bruno Prada of Brazil finished first on day three of the Bacardi Cup star class regatta on Biscayne Bay on Tuesday. The win moved them up six slots to third overall. Bermuda’s Peter Bromby and crew Magnus Liljedahl, who were in the top five in a fleet of 62 boats for the entire race, took second place and maintained first place overall after three of six races. The US’ Andy MacDonald and Brian Fatih finished third.
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