■TROTTING
Race track offers free dung
Paris race-goers are to get a free bag of horse-dung this weekend: not any old poop, but a bagful of champion trotters’ stuff. In an operation titled “Champions’ Dung,” the Paris-Vincennes trotting track will be handing out “high-end, 100 percent natural, guaranteed non-genetically modified, French-origin” fertilizer on Saturday, organizers said. Advance samples were released on Tuesday in a red velveteen jewellery-style box with a leaflet featuring horse manure on a red silk cushion. “When champions grow so do our plants,” it said. The operation is aimed at dealing with the problem of the 20kg of dung per horse produced daily by the country’s million-strong horse population. “Horse dung has a great reputation,” said Cheval Francais, organizers of trotting in France. “When used on indoor plants or on balconies it improves the bloom, the colors and the life of flowers. In a garden it does wonders for tomatoes, potatoes and roses.”
■CRICKET
England recall Vaughan
England picked former captain Michael Vaughan yesterday in a 25-man performance squad from which its Ashes team will be drawn. The 34-year-old Vaughan captained England to a series victory over Australia four years ago but has not played internationally since stepping down from the role in August. Adil Rashid is the only uncapped player in a squad that will also provide the team to play West Indies in a two-Test home series. The remainder, which includes eight players who figured in the 2005 Ashes squads, have at least played limited overs matches. James Foster was recalled as one of three wicketkeepers, almost seven years after his last Test.
■SOCCER
Czech star in sex scandal
Czech Republic captain Tomas Ujfalusi has ended his international career after he was spotted in a restaurant allegedly with prostitutes last week. Photographs of Ujfalusi in the company of several girls and teammates were published in two Czech tabloids after the Czech Republic’s 2-1 home loss to Slovakia. With the 31-year-old Atletico Madrid defender were Galatasaray striker Milan Baros, West Ham defender Radoslav Kovac, Frankfurt striker Martin Fenin, Reading midfielder Marek Matejovsky and Sochaux striker Vaclav Sverkos, the tabloids said. Ujfalusi, married to a former Miss Czech Republic, in a statement from his agent on the CTK news agency, said: “I give up playing for the national team based on the current situation in the Czech Football Association and in Czech media. It is the result of the situation after the latest qualifying matches.”
■BADMINTON
Seeded Taiwanese loses
Taiwanese players enjoyed mixed fortunes on the first day of the Asia Championships in Suwon, just outside Seoul, yesterday. The biggest casualty was Hsieh Yu-hsin, the No. 5 seed, who lost 15-21, 14-21 to Han Ki-hoon of South Korea, while Japanese eighth seed Kenichi Tago beat Lin Yu-jui 21-15, 21-19. Hsueh Hsuan-yi cruised past Sajan Krishna Tamrakar of Nepal 21-4, 21-8 and Chou Tien-chen downed Uzbekistan’s Emil Mirgalautdinov 21-7, 21-10. Liao Sheng-shiun had a tougher contest against Mohamad Arif Abdullatif of Malaysia before triumphing 21-19, 21-19. Among the other seeds to tumble were No. 16 seed Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia who lost to Du Pengyu of China, Thailand’s No. 13 seed Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk who was defeated by Jang Young-soo of South Korea and Chetan Anand of India, seeded three, who lost to Japan’s Kazuteru Kozai.
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. Barça 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 Barça a 2-0 win over
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