Marc betters U-18 mark for 110m hurdles
Hurdler Marc Brian Louis, 16, set a national boys' Under-18 record in finishing third in the 110m hurdles at the Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Hong Kong yesterday.
His 13.74 seconds (for hurdles 0.914m high) bettered the previous U-18 record of 13.98sec, which was set by Sean Toh in 2010. The mark is pending ratification by Singapore Athletics.
Malaysian Mohd Irfan Izzan Mohd Fetry won in 13.60sec, with Kentaro Soga of Japan second in 13.64sec.
Ex-ITTF head Sharara banned four years
Former International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) president Adham Sharara has been suspended from all activity relating to the world federation for four years, ITTF announced yesterday.
An internal investigation concluded that the Cairo-born Canadian, who is currently honorary president of ITTF, had "breached his fiduciary duties" during his 1999-2014 term, including the inappropriate use of ITTF funds.
Slingers get back to winning ways
The Singapore Slingers snapped a two-game losing run by coming from behind to beat the Malaysia Dragons 88-73 in the Asean Basketball League last night in Kuala Lumpur.
They trailed 19-16 after the first quarter and 37-31 at half-time before rebounding strongly in the third. Xavier Alexander top-scored with 25 points while Jerran Young had 23 points for the Slingers, who are third with a 14-9 win-loss record.
Fifa's decision on 48 teams delayed to June
MIAMI • Fifa's ruling council has not ruled out expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams, but a final decision will probably be pushed back until June, a source close to world football's governing body told Reuters on Thursday.
Fifa's feasibility study on the tournament envisages some additional games in an expanded World Cup possibly being held in other countries, with Kuwait and Oman mentioned as options.
REUTERS
European clubs veto new Club World Cup
MIAMI • Europe's top football clubs say they will boycott Fifa's proposed new Club World Cup, leaving Fifa president Gianni Infantino's latest plans in serious doubt.
He had hoped to get backing this week for the creation of a new worldwide Nations League for national teams and a fresh 24-team Club World Cup to start with a "pilot" edition in 2021.
But a letter to Uefa and Infantino from the European Club Association head Andrea Agnelli, chairman of Italian side Juventus, and signed by 15 members of the organisation's board made clear the opposition.
REUTERS
Oldham surprised that Scholes quit
LONDON • Paul Scholes resigned as Oldham manager despite being given the autonomy he sought and the former Manchester United midfielder did not raise concerns before announcing his decision, the English fourth-tier club's owner Abdallah Lemsagam said yesterday.
The 44-year-old won only the first of his seven games before quitting on Thursday, saying he was not allowed to "operate as I intended".
REUTERS