Today's other stories in brief
AT&T end sponsorship deal with Tiger Woods
GOLF:The American telecommunications giant AT&T have ended their sponsorship deal with Tiger Woods.
Woods announced last month that he was taking an indefinite break from golf in order to save his marriage, having admitted being unfaithful to wife, Elin.
An AT&T statement reported: “We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future.”
Fellow sponsors Accenture have already ended their association with Woods.
The Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer have announced they will “downscale the use of his image” in their campaigns during his indefinite period of absence from the sport.
Gillette also announced that Woods will have a more “limited” role in their campaigns and the drinks manufacturer Gatorade have discontinued a line of Woods-branded energy drinks.
AT&T said earlier this month they were “evaluating their relationship” with Woods. The company did not comment on their reasons for dropping the player.
Woods’s admission over his affairs came after he was injured in car crash outside his home in Florida in November.
Skiing champion Hoffmann retires
SKIING: Austria's former Olympic cross country champion Christian Hoffmann has announced his retirement after being provisionally suspended on suspicion of blood doping.
“Above all, I no longer have any chances of Olympic qualification. And, as this would have been my last season, I quit with immediate effect,” said the 35-year-old.
Austria’s national doping agency said that it had banned Hoffmann, who has never tested positive, from all competition until a hearing into the case could take place.
Hoffmann won gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Spain’s Johann Muehlegg won the race but was stripped of the gold medal after testing positive for a banned blood-boosting substance.
Skipper Mortaza fails fitness test
CRICKET:Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has been ruled out of next month's home tri-series against India and Sri Lanka after failing a fitness test.
Mortaza underwent surgery on both knees in Australia in September and was looking to return for the series, which starts on Monday in Dhaka.
“Medically he looks fit but he did not get his full cricketing fitness yet,” said selector Rafiqul Alam. “He was too good a player to be left out, but we have to take care of him also. He will be training with the team and hopefully will return to his job as captain shortly.”
Mortaza was first nominated as Bangladesh captain in July for a tour of West Indies but fell awkwardly while bowling on the third day of the first Test and has been sidelined since.
All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan stepped in as skipper in Mortaza’s absence and will retain the captaincy for the tri-series.
Pakistan reduce touring squad
CRICKET: Pakistan has recalled players Fawad Alam and Abdul Rauf from Australia to reduce the size of the touring squad.
Chief selector Iqbal Qasim said that a request by the team management to send senior batsman Younus Khan to Australia before the second Test in Sydney starting tomorrow had been put on hold. Pakistan lost the first Test.
“The team management had asked us to rush Younus to reinforce the team, but after discussing the matter with the board chairman we have decided that a final decision would be taken after the second test,” said Qasim.
Soderling claims Federer's scalp
TENNIS:Robin Soderling celebrated the New Year by claiming his first victory over Roger Federer at the 13th attempt, finally seeing off the world number one 6-7 7-6 6-2 at an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
The Swede had lost all 12 of his previous meetings with the current world number one, including a straight-sets defeat at last year’s French Open final.
However, he fought back from a set and a break down to book a place in the final of the six-man event against Rafael Nadal.
“I always said the more times I play him, the closer I’ll get, and here I am today,” Soderling, the world number eight, said on court.
“It’s going to be a long season for sure. Hopefully I’ll get to play against Roger a few more times.”
Nadal reached the final by winning an all-Spanish semi-final against David Ferrer 7-6 6-3.
Nadal had cut a frustrated figure at the O2 Arena as he failed to win a match and he had warned not to expect too much at the start of 2010.
But he looked in pretty good form as he ground out a straight-sets triumph over his Davis Cup team-mate.
Ferrer had his chances in the opening set, Nadal saving two break points in the fourth game and then a couple of set points at 4-5.
The underdog, who beat World Tour Finals champion Nikolay Davydenko earlier, could not keep his momentum going in the tie-break, though, and an early break in the second set put Nadal on his way to victory.
