IN BRIEF (Page 24)

NBA

Mourning continues to ponder NBA future

MIAMI: Alonzo Mourning's NBA future was cast further in doubt on Monday after the Miami Heat posted, then removed, a story on their website saying he calling it quits.

Mourning had said before the season this would be his last but the campaign came to a premature end December 19 when he tore the patella tendon and quadriceps tendon in his right knee.

The injury came as Mourning ran down the court and landed under the rim to position himself to block a shot in the first quarter of an eventual 117-111 Miami overtime loss to Atlanta.

Mourning underwent surgery but an announcement on the Heat website on Monday seemed to indicate he was finished.

"I'm retired. This is it for me," Mourning said. "There's a possibility that I can explore some coaching opportunities if at the particular time I'm in the right frame of mind."

Golf

Yacht offered for Qatar Masters hole-in-one

LONDON: Scott Verplank, who became the first American to hit a Ryder Cup hole-in-one at the K Club in Ireland in 2006, will receive the keys to a $150,000 yacht if he can repeat the feat at next week's Qatar Masters.

Organizers will hand over a 26-foot (eight-meter) luxury cruiser to any player who aces the par-3 17th at the Doha Golf Club from January 24-27.

"We'd love to be able to hand over the yacht," Qatar Golf Association chairman Hassan Al Nuami said on Monday.

Verplank, who will be making his Qatar Masters debut, joins world No 8 Adam Scott of Australia, Spain's Sergio Garcia, Swede Henrik Stenson and holder Retief Goosen of South Africa in the chase for first prize at the $2.5 million tournament.

Britons Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy will also be competing.

Snooker

World No 13 Ty-Fu blows away six-time champion

LONDON: Hong Kong's world No 13 Marco Fu set up a first-round meeting with Australian cuesman Neil Robertson at the British Masters on Monday when he beat six-time world snooker champion Steve Davis.

Davis, who has slipped outside the elite top 16 in the world, admitted he had played rubbish in a poor-quality match where the disarming Fu also conceded that he hadn't been at his best.

However, with the mercurial but brilliant Ronnie O'Sullivan out of the tournament following defeat by Stephen Maguire on Sunday, the race for the title is wide open.

Another former multi-world champion Stephen Hendry also crashed out, though, by a much narrower margin, losing 6-5 to Mark Selby in a first-round match - hardly the belated birthday present the Scot would have wanted having celebrated his 39th on Sunday.

Ice Hockey

Bruins center replaces hurt Heatley for All-Star Game

NEW YORK: Boston Bruins center Marc Savard was added to the Eastern Conference team for the NHL All-Star Game on Monday, replacing injured Ottawa star Danny Heatley.

Heatley suffered a separated shoulder in a 3-2 Senators' victory over Detroit on Sunday and will be sidelined for the next six weeks.

The All-Star matchup of East and West NHL standouts will be on January 27 in Atlanta.

Savard leads the Bruins in scoring with 11 goals and 36 assists in 43 games. He will make his first NHL All-Star Game appearance.

Last season, Savard finished ninth in the NHL with 22 goals and 74 assists in 82 games. His 179 assists since the start of the 2005-06 season ranks behind only Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby and San Jose's Joe Thornton.

(China Daily 01/16/2008 page24)