IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Tennis

Jankovic injured ahead of Australian Open

PERTH, Australia: World No 3 Jelena Jankovic was forced to retire from her singles match at the Hopman Cup yesterday with a thigh injury and placed her Australian Open campaign in doubt.

The Serbian, who was playing just the first game of her match with Tatiana Golovin of France, clutched the top of her right hamstring before she received treatment from the physiotherapist and though she tried to play on, was forced to withdraw midway through the second game.

"The injury is at the top of her hamstring," tournament director Paul McNamee told reporters. "We suspect it's torn, but we won't know the full extent of it until after the scan."

Nadal makes winning start, Baghdatis ousted

CHENNAI, India: Spanish world No 2 Rafael Nadal overcame late resistance to reach the Chennai Open second round on Tuesday, but second-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis made an early exit.

Top seed Nadal defeated Mathieu Montcourt 6-2, 6-4 after the tenacious French baseliner broke his serve and engaged him in long rallies in the final stages.

Baghdatis, a 2006 Australian Open finalist, went down 6-3, 6-4 to unseeded Dutchman Robin Haase, leaving his preparations for the year's first Grand Slam in tatters.

He next faces qualifier Rajeev Ram, an American player of Indian origin, who defeated Russian Yuri Schukin 7-6, 7-6.

Basketball

Odom suspended for one game after hard foul on Allen

NEW YORK: Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom has been suspended for one game for flagrantly fouling Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics, the league said Tuesday.

Odom threw himself into Allen, knocking him to the court, late in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 110-91 loss to the visiting Celtics on Sunday.

An eight-year veteran who averages 14.1 points and nine rebounds a game, Odom will serve his suspension on January 4 when the Lakers host the Philadelphia 76ers.

Ice hockey

Outdoor roots helping NHL grow fans and attention

ORCHARD PARK, New York: Outdoor games could become a regular fixture on the NHL calendar following another stunning success at the Winter Classic on Tuesday despite freezing temperatures and blizzard conditions.

The outdoor experiment, conducted in two of the NHL's smallest markets in Edmonton and Buffalo, have produced the league's two biggest crowds with 57,167 watching the game between the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers in 2003.

On Tuesday 71,217 fans, paying an average ticket price of $75, watched Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on a shootout.

Soccer

Hitzfeld confirms Bayern departure

BERLIN: Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has confirmed he will leave the club in June at the end of his current contract.

"I made my decision known to the club's officials three weeks ago. I want to leave the job at the end of the season," he told the SID sports agency.

"I will now do all I can to win trophies for Bayern in the time left to me," the 58-year-old Hitzfeld said.

Hitzfeld has been in talks to take over as coach of Switzerland after this summer's Euro 2008 tournament which the country is jointly hosting with Austria, but no decision has been taken.

Totti reportedly plans to extend Roma contract

ROME: Roma talisman and captain Francesco Totti is to extend his current contract with the club until 2012, according to a report in Corriere dello Sport yesterday.

The 31-year-old is currently contracted until 2010, but the Corriere said: "In the first month of the year he will extend his contract until the end of 2012."

That would take Totti almost to his 36th birthday. He was recently quoted as saying he wanted to play on until he was 35.

Corriere said Totti met with Roma's owners over Christmas when the two parties came to an agreement over a new deal.

The newspaper also claims that contract renewals are not high on Roma's list of priorities - Luciano Spalletti's side are hoping to strengthen in the winter transfer window to try to boost their title chase.

(China Daily 01/03/2008 page22)