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Man Utd's Silvestre ruled out for season after knee injury

LONDON: Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre will miss the rest of the season after injuring his cruciate knee ligament, the club confirmed on Sunday.

French left-back Silvestre, 30, was hurt towards the end of the first half of United's 1-0 victory against Everton on Saturday when he attempted to cut out a pass by Mikel Arteta.

He was taken off the pitch on a stretcher in agony, and Sir Alex Ferguson said later he was concerned about the extent of the injury.

Manchester United confirmed on its website that Silvestre "is likely to miss the rest of the season after scans confirmed that he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury."

Wigan's Heskey out for six weeks in blow to red roses

LONDON: Emile Heskey is facing up to six weeks on the sidelines after scans showed he has a fractured metatarsal which could keep him out of England's vital Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia.

The 29-year-old striker limped off just nine minutes into Wigan's 1-1 Premier League draw with Fulham on Saturday.

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan said: "He has cracked a metatarsal in his foot. We had it confirmed last night. It's not a serious one, but it is still six weeks and I think he will definitely miss the first England game.

"It is bad luck, we are all aware of that. We were shocked yesterday. He just jumped up in the air and came down on his ankle.

"To do that is such bad luck, bad for Wigan, bad for England."

World Cup sun sets early on England's Noon

VERSAILLES, France: England center Jamie Noon has been ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup with a knee injury sustained during the champions' 36-0 defeat against South Africa on Friday, team doctor Simon Kemp announced at the squad's hotel on Sunday.

"Jamie Noon sustained a grade two strain to the medial collateral ligament on his left knee, the ligament on the inside of the knee," Kemp said.

"That diagnosis was confirmed by a scan yesterday (Saturday) afternoon and he will not be able to take any further part in the tournament."

Noon, in an England statement, said: "I'm getting used to the slow realisation that my dream of playing in the Rugby World Cup is over but what is hardest is that I have only been here for two weeks and played just two games.

US rider Hincapie wins Tour of Missouri

ST. LOUIS: George Hincapie held on to his overall lead to win the inaugural Tour of Missouri on Sunday, the US rider's first stage race victory since 2004.

Cuban Ivan Dominguez won the sixth and final stage, completing the 119.4km (74.2-miles) St Louis circuit in two hours, 37 minutes, 13 seconds.

Canadians Andrew Pinfold and Dominique Rollin finished second and third on the stage, both in the same time as Dominguez.

(China Daily 09/18/2007 page23)