GOLF
Daly says pic caused injury
John Daly is suing organizers of the Honda Classic, claiming he injured himself while trying to stop his backswing after being distracted by a fan taking his picture while he was playing in the tournament. The two-time major winner filed a complaint in a Florida court on Wednesday seeking US$15,000 in damages, alleging he aggravated an old injury as a female patron took a flash picture of him during the 2007 edition of the tournament. Under the rules of entry for the tournament, spectators are prevented from taking cameras on to the course. Daly, who withdrew from the tournament, alleges that security was negligent because they allowed her on the course with a camera and failed to remove her after he told them she had a camera. In 2008, Daly smashed a spectator’s camera into a tree when the individual tried to take his photograph at the Australian Open in Sydney.
SOCCER
Ban for hooter shocker
The player who caused outrage by kicking an injured owl during a Colombian championship match was banned for two games and fined on Wednesday. The Colombian league ruled that Pereira defender Luis Moreno had provoked the crowd by kicking the bird which was regarded as a mascot by the fans of home team Atletico Junior. Moreno was fined 1,070,200 pesos (US$560) in addition to his ban following Sunday’s incident. The owl, which lived in the stadium roof, later died. The incident happened after the owl was hit by the ball, prompting the referee to stop play.
SOCCER
Schalke stun Bayern in Cup
Schalke 04 stunned holders Bayern Munich 1-0 with a goal from Raul to reach the German Cup final on Wednesday and improve their chances of playing European soccer next season. Schalke, lying 10th in the Bundesliga, will face second division Duisburg in Berlin in May after reaching the final for the first time since 2005. The defeat left last season’s domestic double winners Bayern with only the Champions League to fight for following a 3-1 Bundesliga defeat by Borussia Dortmund on Saturday that effectively ended their league title hopes. Visitors Schalke made the most of Bayern’s sloppy passing game in the first half to dominate in midfield. They threatened for the first time with a 14th-minute Raul volley. The Spaniard was on target a minute later when Benedikt Hoewedes headed on a corner and the 33-year-old striker drilled his header in from close range. Bayern upped the tempo from the start of the second half as Schalke fell back, going close through Arjen Robben but keeper Manuel Neuer twice denied the Dutchman. He denied Robben again before making his best save three minutes from time, stopping a Franck Ribery shot from 10m.
SOCCER
Hammers get stadium nod
The British government and the Mayor of London have formally approved West Ham’s bid to move into the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. The Premier League club was selected last month as the preferred tenant for the venue, beating a rival bid from Tottenham. The decision needed to be ratified by the government and Mayor Boris Johnson’s office, and the Department for Communities and Local Government granted that approval yesterday. West Ham plan to downsize the stadium from 80,000 to 60,000 seats and use it as a multipurpose venue.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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