GOLF
Croc ends ball hunt
A 4m-long crocodile has killed a South African golfer who went for a late night swim at a dam called Lake Panic in Kruger National Park in South Africa, a park official said yesterday. Deep sea diver Jacques van der Sandt, 29, was dragged under the water by the crocodile at about 10pm on Wednesday and was later found in the jaws of the reptile, which was killed to recover the man’s body. “It had him in his mouth and was swimming in the water with him,” Danie Pienaar, acting head of Kruger National Park, told 702 Talk Radio. “It was in the public area ... we also don’t know if there is anything wrong with the crocodile,” he added, explaining the reason for shooting the animal. Local press reported Van der Sandt had been drinking in the clubhouse before he went looking for golf balls, jumping into the lake where there is a resident crocodile.
SOCCER
City to play in Australia
English Premier League champions Manchester City are to join European champions Real Madrid at next year’s International Champions Cup in Melbourne, organizers said yesterday. Manchester City is the second team announced for the three-team tournament to take place at the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground from July 18 to July 24. The third team for the series has yet to be confirmed, but reports have linked Italian Serie A side Inter. Owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan has invested more than ￡1 billion (US$1.5 billion) since acquiring Manchester City in 2008. Since Mansour’s arrival, City have won two Premier League titles, in 2011-2012 and last season, as well as the 2010-2011 FA Cup and the League Cup earlier this year. Manchester City also have a stake in Australia’s A-League after the club’s Abu Dhabi-based owners purchased and re-branded Melbourne Heart as Melbourne City early this year.
YACHTING
Team links with Red Bull
British sailor Ben Ainslie on Thursday announced a collaboration between his America’s Cup racing team and Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT), a division of the Red Bull Formula One Group. Ainslie, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, is to lead Ben Ainslie Racing at the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda in 2017, when he hopes to bring the prestigious prize to Britain for the first time. To that end, he has enlisted the help of RBAT, which is based in the British town of Milton Keynes and specializes in “advanced simulation and mathematical modeling.” RBAT’s expertise helped Red Bull Racing to win four successive F1 drivers’ titles and four constructors’ championships from 2010 to last year.
CRICKET
Al Hasan ban lifted
Bangladesh lifted a ban on all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan playing in overseas events, paving the way for him to compete in Australia’s Big Bash League in two weeks. Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan Papon made the announcement on Thursday in Dhaka, after consent from all board directors. “Shakib’s embargo to play overseas tournaments is lifted from this moment,” Hassan said. “[The board of directors] are satisfied about his behavior. He was not punished for his performance. It was all about his attitude.” In July, Shakib was suspended for six months and told he would not receive permission to play in overseas competitions until Dec. 31 next year. He was punished for a “severe attitude problem” following altercations with the Bangladesh coach and a fan during a one-dayer against India in Mirpur.
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
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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