Badminton's S'pore Open last shot for Rio

This year's OUE Singapore Open will be the final Superseries tournament where badminton players can chalk up precious ranking points ahead of the Olympic Games in August.

The tournament, to be held from April 12-17 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, will feature a bigger prize purse of US$350,000 (S$503,300), up from US$300,000.

Spectators can purchase cheaper tickets during the early bird period until Feb 12. They are available from Sports HubTix.

Kerber follows a host of other stars out

SYDNEY • German world No. 7 Angelique Kerber withdrew from the Sydney International yesterday, adding to a lengthy list of ailing women tennis stars ahead of next week's Australian Open.

The fourth seed pulled out of the tournament citing a gastrointestinal illness. She follows defending champion Petra Kvitova, who also had gastrointestinal problems, and second seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who dropped out with a leg injury.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Paradorn enters Asian golf q-school

BANGKOK • Former Thai tennis star Paradorn Srichaphan, 36, will make a new attempt to break into professional golf this week when he tries his luck at the Asian Tour qualifying school.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE