■BASEBALL
Ham Fighters floored by flu
The entire squad of Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team is being quarantined and tested for H1N1 influenza after three players contracted the virus. Team officials said yesterday they had ordered all players and coaching staff to check in to a Sapporo hospital for screening after six more players complained of high fever. The Fighters have so far ruled out canceling games as a precaution. Six sumo wrestlers and officials and a member of Japan’s under-19 women’s soccer team have also picked up the H1N1 flu over the past week. Japan confirmed its third fatality from the disease on Wednesday in Nagoya.
■SOCCER
Ipswich to honor Robson
English Championship club Ipswich Town will rename the North Stand of their Portman Road stadium after former manager Sir Bobby Robson, who died of cancer aged 76 last month. Robson transformed Ipswich into a significant force during a 13-year spell that included winning the FA Cup and UEFA Cup before leaving to coach England in 1982. The club plans to unveil the Sir Bobby Robson Stand at a ceremony on Sept. 26 before the game against Newcastle, who are also closely associated with Robson after his spell as manager at St James Park. Chief executive Simon Clegg said: “The overwhelming majority wanted the Sir Bobby Robson Stand. With the North Stand being seen as the heart of the club and of the fan base, the fans feel this is the right stand to be renamed.”
■RUGBY
Melbourne to vie with Kings
The Australian city of Melbourne will bid against South Africa’s Southern Kings franchise for the 15th Super rugby team when the competition expands in 2011, rugby authorities said yesterday. “Both applicants have been invited to provide more information to SANZAR [South Africa New Zealand and Australia Rugby] including a formal application for entry and business plan,” SANZAR said in a statement. SANZAR imposed a Sept. 25 deadline to receive the final bid documents, with a decision on the location of the team due to be announced by October, the rugby body said. The revamped competition in 2011 will see 15 teams split into three conferences, one in each country, with the new team to play in the Australian conference though SANZAR said it did not need to be based in Australia. South Africa’s Southern Kings, a combined Eastern Province, Border and South Western Districts franchise, would face a logistical challenge fielding a team in the Australian conference. Australia has four teams in the current Super 14 competition, one less than New Zealand and South Africa, and is considered the favorite for the expansion side.
■BOXING
Naito faces bad boy Kameda
Japan’s WBC flyweight champion Daisuke Naito is set to fight self-styled boxing bad boy Koki Kameda in an explosive grudge match in November. The bout between the popular Naito and the eldest of the controversial Kameda boxing brothers has been scheduled for Nov. 29 in Tokyo, Japanese media reported yesterday. Bad blood exists between the 34-year-old Naito and the brash Kameda, 12 years his junior. Naito beat Kameda’s younger brother Daiki in an ugly brawl that ended in farce in 2007, the challenger picking up Naito and slamming him to the canvas. Daiki was banned for a year while Koki, working in the corner, escaped with a warning after TV microphones picked up his advice to elbow Naito in the eye.
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
RSS