IN BRIEF (Page 23)
Golf
Searing heat takes toll on spectators
TULSA, Oklahoma: At least 264 people were treated for heat exhaustion during the U.S. PGA Championship which ended on Sunday after what are believed to be the hottest conditions ever for a major golf championship.
Temperatures hit 102 degrees (39 Celsius) during the final round as Tiger Woods claimed victory at Southern Hills Country Club.
Frank Mitchell, head of the tournament medical committee, told reporters so many people were being treated on Sunday that it was hard to keep count.
Some 85 people were treated at the course on Sunday, the hottest day of the tournament. Temperatures hit at least 100 degrees on each of the four days of the championship.
Nearly 40 people were hospitalised for heat-related complaints during the week, with one woman falling unconscious before she was revived and taken to hospital, Mitchell said.
Soccer
Injured Beckham sits out Galaxy loss to New England
FOXBOROUGH, Mass:David Beckham did not play for the Los Angeles Galaxy against New England Revolution on Sunday, resting his sore left ankle for the second time in three Major League Soccer games.
The 32-year-old midfielder had been listed as "questionable" for what would have been his second MLS match in four nights, but did not play to the disappointment of a sellout crowd of 35,402.
"It just didn't feel right," his coach Frank Yallop told reporters after the 1-0 New England victory. "He didn't want to risk it, so we decided not to."
After missing last Sunday's game at Toronto FC, Beckham made his MLS debut on Thursday at D.C. United, playing the final 18 minutes in a 1-0 loss before a capacity crowd of 46,686.
Yallop did not know if the former England captain would play at New York on Saturday.
Real Madrid agree deal with Ajax for Sneijder
MADRID: Ajax Amsterdam have accepted a 27 million euro ($36.98 million) offer from Spanish champions Real Madrid for midfielder Wesley Sneijder, the Dutch club said on Sunday.
Real confirmed the move, saying the 23-year-old Netherlands international, who has played 180 matches and scored 57 goals for Ajax, would sign a five-year contract with the club.
Sneijder, capped 35 times by the Netherlands, will join fellow Dutchman Royston Drenthe at Spanish champions.
Drenthe, a 20-year-old left back who can also play on the wing, arrived in Madrid on Sunday to complete a 14-million euro move from Feyenoord.
"I couldn't say no to a club of the magnitude of Real Madrid," Drenthe was quoted as saying by Real Madrid TV on his arrival at Madrid airport.
Wenger calls for retrospective red cards
LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger called on Sunday for retrospective red cards to be awarded to players found guilty of diving on video replays.
Wenger's side were accused of diving on at least three occasions by Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez after Arsenal beat his team 2-1 in their opening Premier League game of the season.
"It's always the same," Wenger told reporters. "If you take the managers of both teams one would say it's a penalty and the other would say it's not.
"The only way to get it out of football is to give red cards after the game.
"I'm against simulation, the rules are quite simple, what is seen by the referee is judged by the referee and what is not seen by the referee can be analysed by the FA committee. I'm for the use of the video."
Cricket
India set England record target to win test
LONDON: England survived a tricky spell against India on Sunday as they began pursuit of a record 500 to win the third test and draw the series.
Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss guided the home side to 56 without loss and England now need to bat briskly through the final day if they are to have any chance of pulling off an unlikely victory.
India, who only need a draw to claim their first test series victory in England for 21 years, declared their second innings on 180 for six after skipper Rahul Dravid chose not to enforce the follow-on on day four.
Cook was on 27 and Strauss, who has not scored a test century since last August, was 23 not out.
The openers faced 20 overs before the close as they sought to make some impression on the huge target.
(China Daily 08/14/2007 page23)
