■SOCCER
Squad saves suicidal woman
A woman was talked out of suicide by the Hull City team, it emerged yesterday. The woman had been threatening to jump from the Humber Bridge, which has seen more than 200 attempts or falls since it opened in 1981, when the players of the Premier League side, led by manager Phil Brown, walked past. Second from bottom of the table and having lost 6-1 to Liverpool on Saturday, Brown took his players on a walk to try to clear their heads. In the end, they achieved rather more. “We walked across there [on Wednesday],” Brown said. “We saved a girl actually — considering her future, shall we say. You don’t know, do you, until someone jumps, whether they were actually going to do it? But she tootled off back to wherever she came from. We were looking for clarity,” Brown went on. “Did we find it? Absolutely. When you’re jogging you can’t really speak. When you’re walking, you can. So that’s what we did. There are analogies if you want them. The bridge was built with engineering based on the fact that when an ill wind blows, it becomes stronger, a sturdier sculpture.”
■SOCCER
Rooney puts family first
Wayne Rooney is prepared to miss Manchester United’s Champions League trip to CSKA Moscow if it clashes with wife Coleen giving birth to the couple’s first child. The England striker’s child is due on Oct. 24 — also Rooney’s 24th birthday — which is just three days after the Manchester United are due to play in Moscow. “Of course I want to be there for the birth of my child and if anything happens around the days of traveling then I’m sure I’ll stay back and won’t go. But unless that happens I will be there playing,” Rooney said. “It’s due a few days after. Of course it’s a long way but I’ve got a job to go and play for United so unless anything happens then I’ll be there.”
■TENNIS
Teen sensation loses
US teen sensation Melanie Oudin, looking to extend her dream breakthrough season at the China Open, saw her hopes dashed yesterday when she failed to qualify for the main draw in Beijing. The 18-year-old Oudin, ranked 42nd in the world, was ousted by unheralded compatriot Alexa Glatch, the world No. 115, in three sets, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. Oudin burst onto the scene in June with a fourth-round showing at Wimbledon, shocking former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic en route. The Georgia native followed that up with an even better run at Flushing Meadows, defeating fourth seed Elena Dementieva and another former No. 1, Maria Sharapova. Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen also lost yesterday but not before giving Shahar Peer a fright by taking the first set. The Israeli, who has just won successive WTA tournaments, bounced back to take the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Another Taiwanese casualty yesterday was Hsieh Su-wei. The 23-year-old proved no match for Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan who cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
■SOCCER
Welliton may go Russian
Spartak Moscow’s Brazilian forward Welliton said he would consider taking up Russian citizenship and playing for the country at international level. “It’s very difficult to make the Brazil national team so if I get an invitation, I would play for Russia,” the speedy striker was quoted as saying by the daily Sovietsky Sport. Welliton, who turns 23 this month, has established himself as one of the top players in the Russian Premier League since joining Spartak from Brazilian side Goias in 2007. He is the league’s leading scorer with 15 goals this season.
■ATHLETICS
Club to pay Semenya
The owner of a lapdancing club in South Africa is to pay world champion Caster Semenya 20,000 rand (US$2,700), the Star newspaper reported on Thursday. Lolly Jackson, who owns the Teazers club, has been embroiled in a row over a billboard advertising his club. The billboard shows a naked woman lying on her back and the words “No need for gender testing” written on it. Semenya’s gender was questioned after she won the women’s 800m final at the world championship. Leaked test results show Semenya to be intersexed — or having both male and female characteristics. South African athletic officials, who at first denied knowing about the test, have come under attack since it emerged that they lied. Jackson told the newspaper that he was going to pay the money to the athlete.
■TENNIS
Belgians face doping board
Belgian US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer and compatriot Xavier Malisse must appear before a Belgian anti-doping commission after violating its rules, Belgian news agency Belga reported on Thursday. Wickmayer broke the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) “whereabouts” rule three times in the past 18 months, Belga said, citing a spokesman for the Flemish Doping Tribunal. Under the rule, athletes must tell their national anti-doping authorities where they will be at a chosen hour between 6am and 11pm each day for a three-month period. If they change plans they are obliged to inform the authorities. Athletes who miss three doping tests over an 18-month period face possible suspension. Malisse, ranked 153rd in the world, broke the whereabouts rules twice and missed a doping test, Belga said.
■TENNIS
Tauziat to file suit
Former Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat indicated on Thursday she will pursue a claim for defamation against the media and three former players, saying she has been falsely accused of keeping quiet over allegations of rape that led to the arrest of her former coach. Tauziat’s former coach Regis de Camaret was arrested in 2007 after several players, including Isabelle Demongeot, accused him of sexually assaulting minors between 1977 and 1989, when he ran an academy at Saint Tropez. De Camaret insists he is not guilty. Tauziat says she was defamed when Demongeot and fellow players Catherine Tanvier and Isabelle Amiach alleged Tauziat had been aware of the alleged assaults but had kept quiet. Tauziat says she was also defamed by media outlets that reported the allegations.
■GOLF
Woods breaks US$1bn mark
Tiger Woods, 33, has become the first sportsman to break through the US$1 billion earnings barrier, Forbes magazine reported on Thursday. Woods reached the latest landmark of his career when he won a US$10 million bonus for his FedEx Cup victory last weekend. Forbes’ said Woods went into the 2009 season on US$895 million, which included prize money, endorsements, appearance fees as well as fees from his golf course design business. Woods has been the top-earning sportsman since 2002, ousting former Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher. His most lucrative commercial deal is with Nike for more than US$30 million dollars a year. Forbes estimated that retired NBA star Michael Jordan will be the next sportsman to earn US$1 billion. Jordan amassed around US$800 million in his playing career and continues to make US$45 million a year thanks mainly to a deal with Nike.
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
A baseball team from New Taipei City won the US Pony Palomino Division World Series yesterday in Laredo, Texas, defeating the US West representative team from Azusa, California, 2-1. Ku-Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School earned the right to represent Taiwan in the Pony Palomino (17 to 18 age group) World Series after winning this year's Wang Chen-chih Cup, a competition named after Taiwanese-Japanese baseball legend Wang Chen-chih (王貞治), also known as Sadaharu Oh. In the championship game against Azusa, Ku-Pao's starting pitcher Luo Yu-yan (羅于晏) was erratic early, giving up two hits in the bottom of the first inning, followed
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
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