SOCCER
Northern Ireland beat Faroes
Aaron Hughes scored his first goal for Northern Ireland at his 77th attempt in Belfast on Wednesday in a 4-0 victory over the Faroe Islands in European Championship qualifying. After the captain’s fifth-minute goal, Steven Davis added the second and Pat McCourt netted twice in the second half. The victory lifted Northern Ireland to third in Euro 2012 Group C, two points behind Slovenia with a game in hand. Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington singled out Celtic winger McCourt for praise. “He’s a fantastic individual player with good feet and he’s learning how to play for the team,” Worthington said. Italy have a five-point lead in the group, while the Faroe Islands are bottom.
GOLF
Woods takes high road
Tiger Woods is taking the high road in his nasty split with caddie Steve Williams. Woods said in Johns Creek, Georgia, on Wednesday that he was happy to see Adam Scott win the World Golf Championship last week. He said he even sent a text of congratulations to his ex-caddie, who now works for the Australian. He said he was surprised that Williams took a shot at him on national TV when the tournament was over and that they have exchanged texts since then. Woods said that’s between him and his former caddie, and he doesn’t want to speculate why Williams was so motivated to win. As for his own hopes in the PGA Championship, Woods said it was always about winning.
TENNIS
Li Na holds on to cash
China’s Li Na is tipped to become the richest woman in sports, but the French Open champion has yet to venture on a shopping spree and prefers using her husband’s credit card rather than spending her money. The 29-year-old world No. 6, who has many companies battling to cash in on her enormous popularity in China, seems to be in no rush to dip into her cash windfall. “I still like to use my husband’s credit card because I want to save my money,” Li told reporters this week at the Toronto Cup, where she is the sixth seed. “But right now I am always busy doing many things for the sponsors and I do not have time to enjoy shopping. So maybe at the end of the year I will find time.” Li was ranked eighth on a recent Forbes list of top earning female athletes, but is expected to charge up the rankings and challenge Maria Sharapova for top spot after her breakthrough win at the French Open in June. According to Forbes, Sharapova’s earnings, mostly off-court endorsements, were estimated at US$25 million, twice as much as her nearest rival and well ahead of Li’s US$8 million.
CYCLING
Evans returns as hero
Tour de France champion Cadel Evans has arrived in Australia and is looking forward to his victory parade. First priority, though, is a hug from his mother. Evans, the first Australian — and only the third non--European — to win the most prestigious event in cycling, landed at Melbourne Airport yesterday ahead of a parade in his honor today. After working toward a Tour de France win for the best part of his life, he said: “When it all comes together, to have been supported all this way through and be able to bring the yellow jersey back to Australia, of course I’m proud to do it.” Evans and wife Chiara planned to spend yesterday with family and friends. “It’s always nice to come home and get a hug from your mum.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS