ROMANIA
Fear of flying downs winger
Romania winger Catalin Fercu, who failed to show up in New Zealand for the rugby World Cup because he has a fear of flying, has been officially ruled out of the tournament with pneumonia, organizers said on Tuesday. Fercu had already been replaced in the squad by Adrian Apostol when he did not arrive last week, Romanian officials said. They had told reporters upon arrival in Christchurch that the winger had a fear of flying and no amount of persuasion could get him on the plane to New Zealand.
SOUTH AFRICA
Legislator blasts jerseys
South African Legislator Joe Mogluwa said in Johannesburg he would not wear the Springboks jersey during the Rugby World Cup because the garments were made in China at the expense of South Africa’s suffering textile and clothing industry. The news reignited anger about outsourcing of such symbols at a time the country is promoting “Proudly South African” products and dozens of factories are threatened with closure.
NEW ZEALAND
Customs cleans dirty boots
New Zealand border officials seized — and then cleaned — the dirty boots of 60 arriving World Cup players in a biosecurity clampdown aimed at stopping unwanted pests and diseases. One player was fined NZ$400 (US$334) for not declaring his dirty boots, while another was fined for bringing in a pot of honey. “We did find one team member in one particular team who insisted his boots were clean but they were rather filthy,” Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry biosecurity manager Stuart Rawnsley said.
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
PINA BRACE: Claudia Pina scored in the 61st and 74th minutes, while Vicky Lopez added one as Spain notched their third victory in a final in the past four tournaments Claudia Pina scored twice and Germany crumbled on Tuesday as Spain retained the UEFA Women’s Nations League title with a 3-0 victory in the final’s second leg. Vicky Lopez also scored after Pina finally broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with Germany stubbornly hanging on as Spain had done in the first leg, a 0-0 draw in Kaiserslautern on Friday. Spain were without three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati, who broke her leg in training on Sunday. Lopez took Bonmati’s place and Spain dominated from the start. Esther Gonzalez swept the ball just past the post and Mariona Caldentey forced a save
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