SWIMMING
Thorpe disappoints again
Ian Thorpe failed to reach the 100m butterfly final at the Beijing World Cup short-course meet yesterday as the second stop of his hotly anticipated comeback came crashing to a halt. The 29-year-old Australian was 13th overall in the heats with 54.35 seconds, 2.22 seconds off Japanese leader Kosuke Hagino, after also missing the 100m freestyle and 100m individual medley finals on Tuesday. It follows a disappointing return to action for the five-time Olympic champion last weekend in Singapore, when he finished way out of the medals in his first competition in five years. “Thorpedo” is also scheduled to compete in Tokyo this weekend as he builds toward Australia’s Olympic trials in March.
SOCCER
Former Juve boss jailed
Former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi was sentenced to five years and four months in jail on Tuesday for his role in the 2006 Calciopoli match-fixing scandal. Fiorentina owners Andrea and Diego Della Valle and SS Lazio president Claudio Lotito received sentences of 15 months, though they will not have to serve them as under Italian law sentences under two years do not require the guilty party to serve time. Paolo Bergamo, the former referees’ selector, was sentenced to three years and eight months in jail. Moggi was judged to be the man chiefly to blame for the scandal and was found guilty on two counts, including sporting fraud.
OLYMPICS
Aussies face medal drought
Australia is facing its lowest overall summer Olympics medal haul in two decades at next year’s London Games, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) forecast yesterday. Based on the latest benchmark results Australia will be struggling to hang on to a top-five finish in the medals tally, a position it has held since 1996, AOC chief John Coates said. Coates said based on the results, which track Australia’s performance in international competitions, Australia would win 35 or 36 medals in London. As an overall medal tally, that would represent the lowest haul since Barcelona in 1992 when Australia finished 10th with 27 medals.
SOCCER
Alcaraz banned for spitting
Wigan Athletic captain Antolin Alcaraz was banned for three matches on Tuesday after admitting a charge of spitting at an opponent during an English Premier League match, the Football Association said in a statement on its Web site. The 19-year-old Paraguayan defender was caught by television cameras spitting at Wolverhampton Wanderers player Richard Stearman in an incident missed by the match officials on Sunday. The Latics are bottom of the table following eight successive defeats and Alcaraz will miss the games against Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland and Arsenal.
SOCCER
Messi to get ‘caganer’
Barcelona star Lionel Messi, a rock ‘n’ roll legend and British royalty will be honored this year by Spain’s “caganer” figurines, a Christmas tradition that shows celebrities in unflattering poses. The figurines have been sold in the Catalonia region around Christmas since the 18th century, when they were placed in nativity scenes in the hope of bringing good luck and a rich harvest, but now they show famous personalities with their bottoms bared in the act of defecating. Customers inclined toward rock music or royal romance can choose between Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger or Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Catherine.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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