Sport

Confident SA have no reason to fear spinner
CAPE TOWN -- Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan knocked over 11 wickets in the rain-hit drawn first Test in Durban at the weekend, but the South Africans insist they have nothing to fear from him in the second five-dayer in Cape Town st...

Swiss Miss in form as Thailand ousted from Hopman Cup
PERTH, Australia -- Top-seeded Switzerland, led by Martina Hingis in a new figure-hugging outfit, overcame last year's surprise finalists Thailand 3-0 in the opening match of the Hopman Cup mixed teams tennis tournament yesterday. Hingis, biddin...

Windies heading for series whitewash
SYDNEY -- Just four days after one of their heaviest defeats, the beleaguered West Indies return for more against Australia here tomorrow trying to avoid being marked down as the Caribbean's worst-ever team. The West Indies, who have never befor...

Prank gives new meaning to term pitch invasion
DURBAN -- A daring university student dressed in cricket whites, pads and a helmet gave an innovative spin to the concept of pitch invasion during the final day of the first Test at Kingsmead on Saturday. Grant Smith, who played hockey with South...

Battle of the sexes in golf series
SYDNEY -- LPGA Player of the Year Karrie Webb is set to take on four of the world's best-known male golfers in a "Battle of the Sexes" series. Webb will meet Nick Faldo, Stuart Appleby, Michael Campbell and John Daly on courses around the world, ...

Hooper returns
GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- Former West Indies vice captain Carl Hooper has announced a comeback to international cricket just days before the four-day regional Busta Cup Competition starts. The Australia-based Hooper, 34, was recently named to captain...

Knighthood for Olympic rower
LONDON -- Some of Great Britain's leading athletes have received wider recognition with awards in the national New Year honours list. Leading the way is five-times Olympic rowing champion Steve Redgrave, who recently announced his retirement foll...

United draw but still ahead by eight
LONDON -- Reigning champions Manchester United remained eight points clear at the top of the English Premiership despite throwing away two points in a hard-fought 1-1 draw away to Newcastle on Saturday. However, second-placed Arsenal missed a b...

Zimbabwe draw one-off Test
WELLINGTON-- The one-off cricket test between New Zealand and Zimbabwe dwindled to an inevitable draw on the final day Saturday with the tourists shutting up shop when faced with a winning target of 301. Zimbabwe never entertained the task of sco...

Bad tennis boys to turn over new leaf
DOHA, Qatar -- The two most controversial characters in men's tennis, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marcelo Rios, are hoping to turn over a new year leaf when they begin the Qatar Open this week. Russia's Kafelnikov, described by the British tennis maga...

Thrilling finish at Clairwood Park
DURBAN -- There was a thrilling finish to the R70000 B division handicap run over 2 000m at Clairwood Park yesterday, with the first and second favourite Shining Rock and Full Press disputing the finish over the last 200m. Shining Rock just held ...

Minister throws out a lifeline to breeders
By David Mollett JOHANNESBURG -- Minister Alec Irwin has thrown a lifeline to the beleaguered thoroughbred breeding industry with the announcement of the formation of an export trade council. The council's task will be to create marketing initia...

Saturday's Kenilworth results
FIRST RACE 11 Lupial (Kilconnel-Amarula) K Neisius 1 10 Koab G Behr 2 3 Caesour's MaidenG Howes 3 5 Dominate M Khan 4 Then came: Petticoat Lane, Sisipho, Pure Reason, Persian Charm, Dominion's Dream, Endless Love, Kendra, Talk Nicely, Foxenb...

Saturday's Turffontein results
FIRST RACE 4 Buy Low Sell High (Jallad-Can't Buy Me) G Waterston 1 7 Pleasant Thoughts P Devlin 2 2 Tennessee R van Wyk 3 9 Soaring S Brown 4 Then came: Bold Front, Deroda, Potosi, Rough Play. Winner trained by: R L Howe Betting: 12-10 B...

Glamour Boy bowled over by Free My Heart
CAPE TOWN -- Racegoers were terribly disappointed when Jet Master was scratched from the Queen's Plate due to injury ten days ago but they were still treated to a rare spectacle at Kenilworth on Saturday afternoon. Free My Heart, the favourite at ...

Yesterday's Clairwood Park results
FIRST RACE 5 Dancal (USA-Majesty's Nurse (Ire)) S Randolph 1 7 Exclusive Honour A Forbes dead-heat with 20 TributeJ Lloyd 2 14 Modema M Latorre 4 Then came: Lovely Angel, Fine Spray, Plantain Lily, Danziarchos, Bright Spark, Check It O...

RESULTS ROUND-UP
CRICKET SA v SRI LANKA Fifth day, First Test Kingsmead, Durban South Africa (1st innings) 420 Sri Lanka (1st innings) 216 South Africa 2nd innings 47/1 o/n Dippenaar lbw b M'ralitharan 22 Kirsten c Arnold b M'litharan 34 Kallis b Muralitharan 1...