Sports Digest

A round-up of other sports news in brief

Chinese fan attacks match officials

SOCCER: A Chinese fan enraged by two quick red cards shown to the Qingdao Chinese Super League club at the weekend registered his annoyance by launching a karate kick at the referee and shoving a linesman.

The incident dealt another blow to the image of the Chinese game, which is widely considered to be corrupt and riven with violence both on and off the pitch.

Slovenian forward Aleksander Rodic was the first Qingdao player given his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card for diving in the 67th minute of the 2-0 loss to Shanghai Shenhua on Sunday.

Croatian midfielder Stjepan Jukic followed him for an early shower three minutes later after being shown a straight red card for a nasty foul.

The tackle sparked a melee during which the unidentified man raced onto the pitch and attacked the two officials.

Sri Lanka punish Indian bowlers

CRICKET: Tharanga Paranavitana and Kumar Sangakkara hit centuries again yesterday as Sri Lanka punished the Indian bowlers in familiar fashion on the opening day of the second Test.

Paranavitana made exactly 100 to follow his 111 scored at Galle and Sangakkara was undefeated on 130 to go with his 103 in the first Test as Sri Lanka closed on 312-2.

The pair put together a second wicket partnership of 174 as India’s bowlers toiled on a placid pitch.

Paranavitana, who played the passive role in the opening partnership of 99 with Tillakaratne Dilshan, completed his second Test hundred off 217 balls before playing on to a delivery from Ishant Sharma.

Sangakkara, displaying more aggression than his partner, went to his 23rd Test hundred with a boundary off part time bowler Virender Sehwag. At stumps he had hit 15 fours in his 225-ball innings.

India tried six bowlers and their only other success of the day was the wicket of Dilshan in the morning session.

Connacht open campaign against Cavalieri Prato 

RUGBY: Connacht will open their Amlin Challenge Cup campaign on October 9th away to Pool One rivals and tournament debutants Cavalieri Prato of Tuscany, before facing Top 14 side Aviron Bayonnais of France at home six days later.

A potentially pool-defining double-header against two-time champions Harlequins follows in December when Eric Elwood’s side travel to The Stoop on the 12th and then host the English side on the 17th.

The exact dates for the remaining fixtures, a trip to the Cote Basque and the visit of Cavalieri Prato, have yet to be confirmed but the fifth game will be played between January 13th and 16th and the final pool match is scheduled for the following week.

Connacht, beaten in the semi-finals in May by eventual winners Toulan, could book a place in the Heineken European Cup with a win in the tournament.

CONNACHT’S AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP FIXTURES: Oct 9th – Cavalieri Prato (a); Oct 14th – Bayonne (h); Dec 12th – Harlequins (a); Dec 17th – Harlequins (h); Jan 13th-16th – Bayonne (a); Jan 20th-23rd – Cavalieri Prato (h).

RUGBY: Scotland forward Johnnie Beattie is facing up to six months on the sidelines after being told he needs shoulder surgery.

The 24-year-old will undergo an operation in Edinburgh this week with Glasgow team-mate James Eddie also expected to go under the knife for a similar problem.

Beattie has been warned he could face half a year out of action but he is hopeful of making an early return.

Aussies appeal Cooper's ban

RUGBY: Australia have appealed against the two-week ban handed to outhalf Quade Cooper for a dangerous tackle in their Tri-Nations victory against South Africa last weekend. The suspension came after Cooper was cited for a tackle on Morne Steyn during the 30-13 win over the Springboks on Saturday in Melbourne, ruling him out of two Tri-Nations matches against the All Blacks.

Springbok centre Jaque Fourie received a four-week ban for another dangerous tackle in the same match but will miss just one Tri-Nations Test. “Sanzar today received an appeal lodged by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) on Cooper’s behalf, said a statement.

“Details of when the appeal will be heard will be advised tomorrow.”

New Zealand-born Cooper was hoping to make his first start against the All Blacks in Melbourne on Saturday.

Maradona keen to continue

SOCCER: Diego Maradona said he wanted to continue coaching Argentina but only if he could keep absolute control over the choice of his assistants.

Maradona was due to meet the head of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Julio Grondona, yesterday to determine whether he would stay on after Argentina suffered a bruising 4-0 loss to Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa. “I want to continue,” he said yesterday.

Armstrong faces disciplinary action

CYCLING: Lance Armstrong and his team RadioShack will face disciplinary proceedings for breaching riders’ clothing regulations during the Tour de France, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said in a statement yesterday. The American, who was diagnosed with cancer before going on to win seven successive Tours from 1999-2005 and returning to the sport in 2009, was riding the famous race for the last time and attempted to wear a black Livestrong shirt instead of his team’s red and grey strip during the final day on Sunday.

The 38-year-old was halted from wearing the new jersey with the number 28 – a reference to the estimated 28 million people living with cancer – which delayed the start of the race, though he did wear it on the podium at the end.