South African Roland Schoeman again denied American Ian Crocker to successfully defend his 50m butterfly world title in Melbourne on Monday. The Arizona-based Schoeman held off the 100m butterfly world-record holder’s desperate finish to win the one-lap scamper by 0,29secs in 23,18 seconds.
The Australian government will hold talks with cricket authorities to cancel a Zimbabwe tour that could be seen as giving a ”blessing” to President Robert Mugabe, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Monday. ”I don’t want them to tour Zimbabwe. I think that is the wrong look,” Downer told journalists.
New Zealand flyhalf Dan Carter scored 16 points in his first match this year to lead the Canterbury Crusaders to a 36-11 win over South Africa’s Stormers in a Super 14 match in Christchurch on Saturday. Carter kicked two conversions and four penalties and set up two of his team’s four tries as the Crusaders moved into the top four for this first time this season.
High winds forced the suspension of the women’s 25km open water final at the world championships on Saturday. Organisers ordered the swimmers out of the water halfway through the race as the gusts, reaching up to 40 knots, whipped up the seas off St Kilda Beach.
New Zealand’s Auckland Blues returned to the top of the Super 14 standings with a comprehensive 34-6 thrashing of Australia’s New South Wales Waratahs at Eden Park on Friday. The Blues scored four unanswered tries to collect a bonus point and leapfrog the Sharks at the top of the table, although the South Africans can reclaim first place if they beat the ACT Brumbies in Durban on Sunday.
American superstar Michael Phelps has greatness on his mind as he embarks on swimming’s monumental challenge of eight gold medals at the world championships in Melbourne. Compatriot Mark Spitz is considered the greatest swimmer of all time, with seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The Australian government said on Wednesday it wants a planned cricket tour to Zimbabwe in September cancelled in the wake of violence and human rights abuses in the Southern African nation. A final decision would, however, be left to the sport’s governing body, Cricket Australia.
The Russian Federation’s Vladimir Dyatchin held off a charging Thomas Lurz to win the men’s 10km open-water world title in a photo finish on Wednesday in Melbourne, Australia, as ”massive” jellyfish again took their toll. China, meanwhile, continued their push for more diving gold at the world championships.
Fears that rugby union is in decline in Australia have gathered pace in this World Cup year amid wretched Super 14 performances, an indecisive rugby administration and public agitation over a lack of running rugby. Generally there is a heightened anticipation as teams prepare for the World Cup. Not so in Australia, where there is a foreboding of an early Wallaby Cup exit.
South African flyer Roland Schoeman believes if his second lap is on par with his rivals he can win the 100m freestyle gold medal at the World Swimming Championships. Schoeman is confident he can do his first lap in 22,4 seconds, but it is the second 50m which is the problematic part for him.
A violent crackdown on political dissent in Zimbabwe could lead Australian cricketers to scrap a planned tour of the Southern African nation later this year, the government said on Monday. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was deeply disturbed by events in Zimbabwe and would raise the issue with Cricket Australia after the World Cup.
Kimi Raikkonen showed he’s the man to step into Michael Schumacher’s shoes at Ferrari, winning his first race with his new team at Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Raikkonen has already beaten a Schumacher mark at the Italian team. The German had to wait until his seventh race to notch his first win with Ferrari.
Luke Watson scored a try and Peter Grant kicked three penalties and a conversion as South Africa’s Stormers beat New South Wales 16-10 in a Super 14 rugby match on Saturday. ”It’s going to be a good test of character from here on in,” Waratahs captain Adam Freier said.
Ian Thorpe glanced at the pool and felt a bit of an urge to dive in — but no chance. The swimming community bid farewell to one of its greatest performers on Saturday night, honoring the ”Thorpedo” at the opening ceremony for the world championships in his home country.
Kimi Raikkonen took pole position on Saturday for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, the season’s Formula One opener. It was Raikkonen’s 12th career pole, but his first in a Ferrari. Formerly of McLaren, the Finn joined Ferrari to replace seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who retired last year.
Formula One (F1) supremo Bernie Ecclestone has hinted Australia should consider staging their grands prix at night to boost their chances of extending their current F1 licence, reports said on Saturday. Ecclestone wants to include a number of night races on the F1 schedule as early as next season.
Cameron Shepherd scored a try and kicked three conversions and four penalty goals for a personal total of 23 points as the Western Force beat the Queensland Reds 38-3 in a Super 14 rugby match on Friday. The win was the second in a row at home for the Force, who did not have a win at Subiaco Oval before last week’s 18-17 victory over the Wellington Hurricanes.
Spectators at this year’s Melbourne Grand Prix will have a new insight into Formula One race teams’ tyre strategy thanks to new rules for the 2007 season — if they can see it on a spinning tyre. Under new regulations, Bridgestone, F1’s sole tyre supplier, must provide two specifications of dry weather tyres at each round.
An Australian gambler is suing a casino for tens of millions of dollars for allegedly luring him back to the gaming tables after he had banned himself from the premises. Harry Kakavas is claiming Aus$30-million (about R170-million) he says he lost playing baccarat at Melbourne’s Crown Casino in a 14-month spree — plus damages.
World champion Fernando Alonso has come out against plans to stage Formula One grand prix races at night. Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has spoken of wanting to include a number of night races on the F1 schedule as early as next season.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso hopes to get his McLaren career off to a winning start on Sunday in an Australian Grand Prix that is far more than just a season-opener. Formula One is also entering what promises to be a fascinating new era after the retirement last October of Ferrari’s seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher.
His eponymous Sydney eatery is regularly named among the world’s best and boasts a weeks-long waiting list, while his blend of Japanese and French cuisine has won him the respect of chefs across the globe. Modesty leaves Tetsuya Wakuda struggling to define why he has become one of the world’s top chefs, but a glimpse into his office and into his past offers some answers.
A second tropical cyclone menacing Australia’s north-west coast was downgraded Sunday as the prime minister offered to send troops to help clean up damage from last week’s storm. Residents have been scrambling to clean up the rubble left by Cyclone George, which slammed into Australia’s remote Pilbara region on Thursday, killing two people and injuring about 20 others.
Northern Bulls centre JP Nel was suspended for three weeks on a striking charge by a judiciary hearing on Sunday following Saturday’s Super 14 win over the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney. Nel was cited for striking Waratahs flanker Rocky Elsom in the 70th minute of the match, won by the Bulls 32-19.
Bryan Habana and Fourie de Preez scored two tries each as South Africa’s Bulls crushed the New South Wales Waratahs 32-19 in a Super 14 match at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday. Habana scored twice down the left wing after following up kicks while scrumhalf de Preez scored two solo tries.
Skipper Stirling Mortlock inspired the ACT Brumbies to a much-improved 26-13 Super 14 rugby win over South Africa’s Western Stormers in Canberra on Friday. Mortlock, returning to the game after a succession of head knocks, contributed 16 points as the Brumbies won their first home match of the season by three tries to one.
At least two people were killed on Friday when a cyclone slammed into Australia’s north-west coast, paralysing mining operations and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Authorities feared category-four Cyclone George had also claimed a third life and caused numerous serious injuries, but said they were struggling to reach remote communities lashed by winds of 275km/h.
Cyclones off the coast of Western Australia forced the shutdown on Thursday of almost half the country’s oil production as well as a major iron-ore export terminal, with more closures seen as two storms approach oil fields. Cyclone George was upgraded to a category-three storm on Thursday.
Former World Cup winner Matthew Burke could be called on as Australia’s potential insurance policy for this year’s tournament as cover for the sidelined Chris Latham, reports said on Monday. The Australian Rugby Union has confirmed that 34-year-old Burke, who last played for the Wallabies in 2004 before heading to England to play club rugby, had been sounded out about the possibility.
South Africa’s Lions overturned an 11-point deficit to beat Australia’s Queensland Reds 26-20 in their Super 14 clash in Brisbane on Saturday. The Lions trailed 17-6 late in the first half but scored two unanswered tries in the second to chalk up their fourth straight win of the season and move to second place in the standings.
South Africa’s Bulls broke a 12-season hoodoo by beating the ACT Brumbies 19-7 in their Super 14 match at Canberra Stadium on Saturday. The Bulls registered their first win in the Australian capital since the old Super 12 began in 1996 to cement their place in the top four after five rounds.
The New South Wales Waratahs and the Western Force played out a 16-16 draw in the fifth round of the Super 14 at the Sydney Football Stadium on Friday. The Waratahs had a last-minute chance to win the Australian derby when they were awarded a penalty near the right touchline, but replacement Sam Norton-Knight took a quick tap and lost possession.