Diving diva may miss Nationals

China's diving diva Guo Jingjing will likely miss the China National Games after her provincial team was banned from the National Games in 2009.

Two of Guo's teammates on the Hebei provincial team, Zhang Jun and Gao Lin, tested positive for prohibited substances following the National Championships in March. As a result the team will face a two-year ban from national competition on all levels.

"The ban is very likely to make Guo unable to compete in the National Games and then force her to end her career after the Beijing Games," according to Sohu.com. "The case will lead to some devastating effects for Hebei, one of the elite diving teams in China."

This is China's first-ever drug case in the sport of diving, according to the website.

Xin Evening Post, a newspaper based in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, claimed the prohibited substances were in diet pills the divers were taking to lose weight.

Henin calls it quits

Women's world No 1 Justine Henin rocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement from competitive tennis.

Henin, who will celebrate her 26th birthday on June 1, headed the official WTA rankings released Monday for the 117th consecutive week, but pulled out of the Rome Masters this week blaming tiredness.

Having seven Grand Slam titles to her name and almost $20 million in career earnings since she joined the WTA Tour in 1999, She has been struggling this year to reach the level of form that has earned her the last three titles at Roland Garros.

She admitted last week she was lacking confidence just two weeks prior to the defense of her French Open crown.

Henin has been beaten four times in four months this year including a 6-2, 6-0 hammering by Serena Williams in Miami last month.

Ronaldo leads Man U to 17th title

Manchester United retained the Premier League title on Sunday when they won 2-0 at Wigan Athletic as Chelsea was held 1-1 at home by Bolton Wanderers.

Cristiano Ronaldo got the go-ahead goal with a 33rd-minute penalty and Ryan Giggs completed the win 10 minutes from time on the day he equaled Bobby Charlton's club record 758th appearance.

United ended the season on 87 points, two clear of Chelsea, which took a second-half lead courtesy of striker Andriy Shevchenko before Matt Taylor grabbed an injury-time equalizer.

Even without Taylor's last-gasp effort, Chelsea would have lost anyway on goal difference.

It was United's 10th Premier League title and 17th championship in all - one short of Liverpool's record. They will now go for a domestic and European double when they face Chelsea in the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21.

Zenit hoists UEFA Cup

Russian champion Zenit St. Petersburg lifted its first European trophy after beating Scotland's Glasgow Rangers 2-0 in the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday.

The Russians enjoyed plenty of possession but could not find a way into Rangers' packed defense until 18 minutes from time.

Igor Denisov played a neat one-two with Andrei Arshavin before firing home and Konstatin Zyryanov sealed victory with a close range effort in stoppage time at the City of Manchester stadium.

"Winning a prize like this does not come often in your life," said Zenit's Dutch manager Dick Advocaat. "I'm very proud for Zenit that we have won."

"I think we deserved this victory. Hopefully this is the start of something for Russian football."

Sorenstam says she's had enough

Annika Sorenstam, who won the 72nd title of her LPGA career on Sunday, will retire at the conclusion of the 2008 season, the 37-year-old Swedish superstar announced on Tuesday.

Sorenstam has won three tournaments this season after going without a title in an injury-plagued 2007 campaign. She has won an LPGA career-record $22 million with her victory on Sunday at the Michelob Ultra Open.

She is second on the money list and in the world rankings to Mexico's Lorena Ochoa, who took over the world No 1 spot 13 months ago.

Sorenstam will try to reclaim the top spot before walking away.

She will say goodbye in Dubai. Her farewell tournament will be the Ladies European Tour's Dubai Ladies Masters, which begins on December 10.

Operation Osaka a success for Liu

Defending Olympic champion Liu Xiang stormed to victory in the 110m hurdles at the Japan Grand Prix on Saturday.

Liu splashed home in 13.19 seconds with fellow Chinese Shi Dongpeng a distant second in 13.63. Liu stretched his unbeaten run in Osaka to six races, including last year's World Championships.

Liu was competing in his first major competition since winning the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia in March.

He led from the first hurdle and finished eight meters clear of Shi and Jamaica's Maurice Wignall in third, clenching his fist in celebration as he crossed the line.

Liu is scheduled to run just four more races before the Beijing Games in August.

(China Daily 05/16/2008 page4)