CYCLING
Zabriskie grabs overall lead
David Zabriskie of the US grabbed the Tour of California lead on Thursday with a dominant victory in the stage five individual time trial. Zabriskie, 33, who has won stages in all of cycling’s Grand Tours and who led the 2005 Tour de France for three days, completed the 29.7km flat course in 35 minutes, 59 seconds. Germany’s Jens Voigt was 23 seconds behind, while Tejay van Garderen of the US placed third, trailing by 34 seconds as temperatures reached 35oC for the second successive day. “I came out here in February and videotaped the course,” Zabriskie said. “I had a few spots where I wanted to soft pedal, but maintain speed. It sounds weird, but you can do it. The turnaround was one of those spots. This was a really good course for me.” Zabriskie also won the time trial last year and finished second overall in the event in 2010.
SOCCER
Luhukay signs deal at Hertha
Hertha BSC Berlin have appointed Jos Luhukay of the Netherlands as their new coach after the 48-year-old former Augsburg boss signed a two-year deal on Thursday as they prepare for life in the second division. “We are very pleased that we could take Jos Luhukay for the next two years,” Hertha manager Michael Preetz said. Luhukay replaces former Greece coach Otto Rehhagel, who took over in February, but was unable to prevent Berlin going down as they lost the German league relegation playoff against Fortuna Duesseldorf 4-3 on aggregate. Hertha have appealed to the German Football Federation after chaotic scenes in Tuesday’s second-leg match in Duesseldorf blighted the 2-2 draw as two separate pitch invasions caused lengthy delays. The result confirmed Hertha’s relegation after Fortuna won the first-leg 2-1 in the capital, but Berlin’s appeal was being heard by the federation yesterday. Excluding caretaker coaches, Luhukay, whose resume includes stints with Cologne and Borussia Moenchengladbach, is Hertha’s fifth coach in five years.
SOCCER
Reja quits Lazio ... definitely
SS Lazio coach Edy Reja has quit the Roman club and insists he will not change his mind this time. Reja reportedly considered resigning twice last season, saying he was tired of working under fierce protests from Lazio fans after defeats to Genoa and Fiorentina. Reja announced his decision in an interview with Web site Cittaceleste.it on Thursday, citing the “negative atmosphere” and the “continued criticism.” He said that club president Claudio Lotito asked him to stay and that “even after my refusal, he asked me to have a rethink, to take a week to reflect, but I have already made my decision.” Lazio missed out on Champions League qualification on the last day of the Serie A season and finished fourth, two points behind third-placed Udinese.
SOCCER
Sanchez to coach Sporting
Manuel Sanchez is to coach Sporting de Gijon next season following the resignation of Javier Clemente, the Spanish club announced on Thursday. Clemente, a former Spain national coach, joined Sporting in February to replace Inaki Tejada, who had been appointed on an interim basis after Manuel Preciado was sacked. Clemente arrived hoping to save Sporting from relegation, but he was unable to prevent the club from slipping into the second tier after they finished the season in 19th place. “For next season, the new coach of the first team will be Manuel Sanchez Murias,” read a statement from Sporting on the club’s Web site.
ICE HOCKEY
US, Canada suffer defeats
Jesse Joensuu scored with nine seconds left to give Finland a 3-2 victory over the US on Thursday in the quarter-finals of the world ice hockey championships, and Michal Handzus scored the winning goal late in the third period in Slovakia’s 4-3 victory over Canada. In the semi-finals today, Finland will face Russia, and Slovakia will play the Czech Republic. In Stockholm on Thursday, Milan Michalek scored in the final minute to give the Czech Republic a 4-3 victory over Sweden, and Alex Ovechkin scored in his first game of the tournament to help Russia top Norway 5-2. Joensuu scored twice, and Mikko Koivu added a goal for Finland. Kyle Palmieri and Bobby Ryan scored for the US. In the Canada-Slovakia game, Milan Bartovic tied it for Slovakia off a rebound with six minutes, 35 seconds left. Canada killed off Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ boarding penalty, but Ryan Getzlaf was given a kneeing major for an open-ice hit on Juraj Mikus with 2:32 to play. Four seconds later, Handzus tipped in the winning goal.
BASKETBALL
Bus attack delays finals
The Greek basketball playoff finals between Olympiakos Pireaus and Panathinaikos have been thrown into chaos after the first match of the series was postponed following an attack on the Panathinaikos bus, which injured two of their players. The match, which was scheduled to take place on Thursday evening, was called off after fans of the Piraeus club pelted the Panathinaikos bus with rocks as it neared the stadium, smashing a window. Greece international forward Stratos Perperoglou and US forward Steve Smith were both admitted to hospital after complaining of eye pain, but were later discharged, Panathinaikos team manager Manos Papadopoulos said.
MOTOGP
Casey Stoner to retire
Two-time world MotoGP champion Casey Stoner has announced he will quit motorcycle racing at the end of the season for “family reasons.” Stoner, who has won 35 MotoGPs in his career and leads the current standings after winning two of the season’s three events, made the announcement at a news conference ahead of tomorrow’s French Grand Prix. The 26-year-old Australian won world titles in 2007 and last year. He became a father for the first time in February, when his wife, Adrianna, gave birth to a daughter.
CRICKET
Pomersbach arrested
Australian cricketer Luke Pomersbach has been arrested on molestation and assault charges, a senior Delhi Police official said on Friday. The 27-year-old was alleged to have molested a woman and physically attacked her male friend in a city hotel during a party after Pomersbach’s Royal Challengers Bangalore had beaten the Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match on Thursday. “A case has been registered ... Luke is in custody and will be produced in the court,” additional commissioner of police K.C. Dwivedi told the CNN-IBN TV channel.
RUGBY UNION
Higginbotham joins Rebels
Australia loose forward Scott Higginbotham has joined the Melbourne Rebels from the Queensland Reds on a two-year contract, the Super Rugby franchise said yesterday. The 25-year-old will join the Rebels next season. “Scott’s a current Test player, who we’re confident will add to the culture of the Melbourne Rebels,” coach Damien Hill said in a statement.
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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