■CYCLING
Blood doping kits found
Blood doping kits were discovered in a search of medical equipment belonging to Lance Armstrong’s former Astana team during this year’s Tour de France. Blood transfusion is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The find, which was first reported by French newspaper Le Monde, was confirmed on Wednesday by a source close to a French judicial investigation. The source stressed that the initial inquiry by a Paris magistrates’ court was continuing and that it was premature to suggest the equipment might constitute illegal activity. The court in Paris opened its inquiry in July after the discovery during the Tour de France won by Armstrong’s teammate Alberto Contador of medical equipment such as “syringes and perfusions.” The source said: “No trace of any doping product has for the time being been uncovered by the analysis of this material” belonging to Astana. Le Monde’s report said antihypertensives (drugs that reduce high blood pressure) were also found at Astana during the search. These drugs are not banned, but can be used to treat hypertension associated with the practice of blood transfusions or the administering of the banned blood booster EPO.
■CRICKET
Pakistan to play England
Pakistan will play two Twenty20 matches against England in Dubai next year, before defending their title at the next World Twenty20, an official said on Thursday. Pakistan won the second edition of the World Twenty20 in England in June, sparking jubilation in a nation where international cricket has been hit hard by security fears and attacks by Islamist militants. “We have reached an agreement to play two Twenty20 matches against England on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 as part of our preparations for the World Twenty20 next year,” Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Wasim Bari said. Pakistan will defend their title in the West Indies from April 30 to May 16. They are placed in Group A alongside Australia and Bangladesh in the 12-team competition.
■TENNIS
Djokovic to star as king
Serbian world No. 3 Novak Djokovic is to play Yugoslavia’s first king in a television series to be shot next year, Serbian media reported on Thursday. The 10-part series will retrace the life and reign of Aleksandar Karadjordjevic, first monarch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, who unified the kingdoms of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia after World War I. The tennis champion and first-time actor will play Aleksandar during his reign, which came to a brutal end in 1934 when he was assassinated in the port of Marseilles while trying to set up an alliance with France against Germany. Djokovic’s younger brother, Djordje, will play the king as a young man.
■BOXING
Terry Lawless dies at 76
Terry Lawless, the British boxing manager who took Frank Bruno to a world heavyweight title bout against Mike Tyson in 1989 and guided four other world champions, died in Spain on Thursday at the age of 76. “He will be remembered as one of the all-time great boxing managers,” close friend Norman Giller wrote on the Sports Journalists Association Web site after being contacted by Lawless’ wife, Sylvia. The “maker of champions” managed more than 50 boxers and guided John H. Stracey, Maurice Hope, Jim Watt and Charlie Magri to various world titles from his Royal Oak gym in east London. He had retired in 1999. Lawless worked closely with promoters Mickey Duff, Jarvis Astaire, Harry Levene and Mike Barrett.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
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