■CRICKET
Proteas pan Trott routine
England batsman Jonathan Trott could get into trouble if he persists in taking too long to face up to the bowlers, South Africa’s A.B. de Villiers warned on Sunday. Trott’s slow, deliberate routine prior to taking guard was highlighted by South Africa captain Graeme Smith after the first Test in Centurion and Trott was booed by the Kingsmead crowd on the second day of the second Test on Sunday. He finished the day with 17 not out in an England total of 103 for one. “The umpires are aware of it and Graeme is dealing with it,” de Villiers said of Trott’s routine, which sometimes means he is not ready to face when the bowlers are set to start their run-ups. “It is very frustrating. Our bowlers have their rhythms. It’s a tactic that might get him into trouble soon.” De Villiers said the umpires had spoken to Trott — “and Graeme is talking to Trotty as well.” Asked whether the Smith-Trott exchanges were on or off the field, de Villiers said they had happened on the field. England off-spin bowler Graeme Swann defended Trott and said his routine was the same as it was in county cricket. “He’s done it every year when I have bowled against him. It’s just Trotty. It’s the way he plays. He’s very organized and he’s got a very clear game plan,” Swann said.
■SKI JUMPING
Matti Nykanen arrested
Finnish ski jump legend Matti Nykanen, a four-time Olympic champion, has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder his wife on Christmas Day, according to press reports on Sunday. Nykanen, 46, spent the weekend in police custody following the incident on Friday that left his wife with injuries to her forehead and hand. She took refuge at a neighbor’s house, from where she called police. Nykanen was expected to be charged yesterday, according to a report on the Web site of Helsinki Sanomat. Although one of the biggest names in the sport, Nykanen, a triple gold medal winner from the Calgary Games in 1988, has also attracted plenty of notoriety in Finland where he is still hugely popular. He has already spent time in prison for conjugal violence.
■SOCCER
Scolari rejected Juve offer
World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari says he turned down an offer from Juventus to stay with Bunyodkor. Scolari said on Bunyodkor’s Web site that he rejected Juventus’ offer because he is “completely satisfied” at the Uzbek league leaders and Asian Champions League quarter-finalists. Scolari signed an 18-month deal in October to coach the Uzbek team and oversee a youth sports academy in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. Scolari, who took over from Brazilian great Zico, was fired by English Premier League club Chelsea in February. He coached Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title and also coached Brazilian clubs Gremio and Palmeiras to Copa Libertadores titles.
■SOCCER
Buonanotte out for months
River Plate midfielder Diego Buonanotte will be out for at least seven months after being involved in a car crash that killed three of his friends. The 21-year-old player was driving on a rural highway early on Saturday when his Peugeot 607 slammed into a tree. He suffered broken bones and bruises on his chest. Passengers Alexis Fulcheri, Gerardo Sune and Emanuel Melo were buried on Sunday. Team doctor Horacio Cavallieri visited the midfielder in a Buenos Aires hospital, saying Buonanotte was in a stable condition, calm and conscious, though sedated. Buonanotte was reportedly a transfer target of English Premier League side Sunderland.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
Shin Oebori coaches the Fukagawa Hawks youth baseball team in Tokyo, and he is very aware how Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani touches his players. “With Ohtani, the kids think everything is possible,” Oebori said, wrapping up practice yesterday on an all-dirt field set alongside a local Buddhist temple, below an elevated highway, and in the shadow of tall apartment blocks in central Tokyo. “Nothing is impossible with him. A dream is not a dream,” Oebori said, stepping out of the fenced practice field that keeps balls from landing on the temple grounds. None of the players hitting sponge-soft baseball has reached
CRICKET Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as
‘GLOBAL PRESSURE’: LA’s Dave Roberts said that it was difficult to appreciate the ‘pressure on a global scale’ his starter was under ‘pitching for his country’ The Los Angeles Dodgers shelled out US$1 billion for Japanese talent in the off-season and it is paying off in the MLB playoffs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Friday outdueled Yu Darvish in a historic post-season matchup of Japanese-born starters, while the Dodgers got home runs from Kike Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez to beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 and advance to the National League Championship Series. “It’s pretty sweet,” a smiling Freddie Freeman said. Yamamoto allowed two hits over five innings for the win, getting pulled after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated NL West rivals who were meeting in a
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