Top Shot

Injured Scholes to miss start of the new season

MACAO: Manchester United playmaker Paul Scholes is to have an exploratory knee operation that will rule him out of the start of next season, the club said on Monday.

The influential midfielder has been sent home from their Asian tour after missing the English champions' 6-0 win over Shenzhen Xiangxue in Macao on Monday.

"Paul felt his knee in the last game (against FC Seoul) and we've sent him home for scope to see what kind of damage there is," United manager Alex Ferguson told reporters.

"We've had some scans done and there is a bit of discolourment about the cartilage.

"We don't think it is serious, but we will keep him out for about three weeks to a month."

Oldest former major leaguer dies at age 100

NEW YORK: Rolland Mays Stiles, the oldest living former Major League Baseball player, died on Sunday at the age of 100 in a nursing home in St Louis, the Post-Dispatch newspaper reported on Monday.

Stiles compiled a 9-14 record for the St Louis Browns from 1930-1933. The Arkansas native settled in St Louis after his major league career.

The former major league right-hander was honored in January by St Louis baseball writers for service to sports and also received the lifetime achievement award from the St Louis Amateur Baseball Association.

Stiles remembered match-ups against Philadelphia Athletics Hall of Fame hurler Lefty Grove, in an interview with the newspaper last November and recalled pitching against the powerhouse New York Yankees and famed slugger Babe Ruth.

Lara to make comeback in new Indian league

NEW DELHI: Former West Indies skipper Brian Lara will come out of retirement to play in an unofficial Indian cricket league to be launched later this year, its organisers said on Monday.

"We've signed up Lara, he will be playing and captaining one of the teams," Himanshu Mody, business head of Zee Sports, told Reuters.

India's Essel Group, which controls the country's biggest listed media firm Zee Telefilms, launched the Twenty20 league in May to stage an annual tournament featuring foreign players and some current India players.

Lara, 38, announced his retirement from all cricket after this year's World Cup where the home team failed to reach the last four, although the batting maestro did not rule out a return.

Oliveira confident of scoring in Spain

MADRID: Real Zaragoza striker Ricardo Oliveira is confident he can rediscover his scoring form on his return to Spain after a disappointing season with Serie A side AC Milan.

"I'll be doing my utmost to score goals and help the team have a great season," the 27-year-old Brazilian international told a news conference after completing a season-long loan move to the Primera Liga side on Monday.

"I hope next season will be as good as or even better than the campaign I had when I scored 22 goals for Betis," he said. "I know it is a bold promise but I've got a lot of confidence in this team."

The former Valencia and Betis striker joined Milan for 17.0 million euros ($23.5 million) at the start of last season as a replacement for Andriy Shevchenko, but he failed to live up to expectation, scoring just three goals in 26 Serie A appearances for the club.

(China Daily 07/25/2007 page23)