WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 SPORTS Wicketkeeper Wade not wanted by Australia at World SYDNEY: Wicketkeeper ner has been overlooked. nuity, not only ahead of the World T20 but best wicketkeeper playing in this tourna- the experience and talent required to be has been omitted from Australia’s squad has taken as over from beyond that tournament as well.” ment and we consider Peter Nevill to be successful in India and help us win the for the World tournament in Aaron Finch who is struggling to recover the best in the country right now.” World T20 title for the first time. India next month while the selectors have from a hamsting injury and will now cap- INJURY Spin bowling is expected to be an “We were able to look at a number of chosen two spin bowlers who have yet to tain Australia in all three formats. “Aaron Finch has been named in the squad as important part of the world tournament players during the BBL and the recent T20 play a . Finch has done a very good job - has allrounder James Faulkner, who also with many nations selecting three front- International series against India and have Test wicketkeeper Peter Nevill has ing Australia in T20 ,” chairman of has a hamstring injury, and fast bowler line spinners. Australia has gone with Agar selected the best short-form players avail- been preferred to Wade in the 15-man selectors Rod Marsh said. “He will have Nathan Coulter-Nile who is recovering and Zampa ahead of the more experi- able for the conditions we will encounter.” Australia squad named Tuesday, though benefited enormously from the leader- from a dislocated shoulder. Coulter-Nile enced Lyon and Cameron Boyce with The World Twenty20 title is the only major he has yet to represent his country in a ship opportunity and will remain a highly- displaces Shaun Tait but will have to prove backup from allrounder Glenn Maxwell. global cricket trophy to have eluded limited overs match. respected leader within the Australian his fitness before his selection is con- Marsh said the selection of an off-spin- Australia which opens its campaign Wade has been Australia’s wicketkeep- squad. “However, since he became T20 firmed. Nevill’s selection ahead of Wade is ner, left-armer and legspinner gives against New Zealand in Dharamsala on er in Twenty20 and one-day internationals captain there has been a broader leader- a bold one. Nevill averages 15.75 and has Australia “plenty of flexibility in the slow- March 18. since the retirement of after ship transition in test and one-day inter- a highest score of 25 in 20-overs matches, bowling department which is incredibly Australia squad: Steve Smith (captain), last year’s World Cup but appears to have national cricket with Michael Clarke retir- though his wicketkeeper is seen as likely important in this format,” , Ashton Agar, Nathan paid the price for a loss of form with the ing and Steve Smith assuming the cap- to be superior to Wade’s on low Indian “Given the conditions we are likely to Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, gloves and bat. The selectors have chosen taincy in Test and one-day cricket. pitches. “We feel our batting depth in this face in India we wanted to have a number John Hastings, , Usman left-armer Ashton Agar and legspinner “We think now is the right time for squad is sufficient enough that we can of different spinning options available to Khawaja, , Glenn Maxwell, , though neither has played Steve to lead Australia in all three forms of have a specialist wicket-keeper in the us,” he said. “Overall, we believe the squad Peter Nevill, Andrew Tye, , a Twenty20 international while test spin- the game as it offers us important conti- squad,” Marsh said. “We want Australia’s we have selected is well-balanced and has Adam Zampa. — AP Crosby scores in 7th straight as Penguins top Ducks 6-2

PITTSBURGH: Sidney Crosby scored on a pair of breakaways to extend his goal streak to a career-best seven games and added two assists to help the Pittsburgh Penguins contin- ue their surge with a 6-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night. Crosby beat John Gibson between the legs to give the Penguins a three-goal cushion in the sec- ond period and ripped one by Gibson’s glove early in the third while Pittsburgh emphatical- ly ended Anaheim’s six-game winning streak. Chris Kunitz, Conor Sheary, Carl Hagelin and Olli Maatta also scored for the Penguins, who have won six of seven. Crosby, mired in a mas- sive slump early in the year, now has 53 points in 51 games. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots. Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Maroon scored for the Ducks. Gibson made 25 saves before being pulled early in the third.

RED WINGS 3, PANTHERS 0 Pavel Datsyuk scored twice in a 1:08 span midway through the third after Tomas Tatar broke a scoreless tie earlier in the period and Petr Mrazek made 23 saves for Detroit in a win over Florida. Mrazek has a career-high four shutouts this season. Detroit has won two straight home games for the first time in two months. The Atlantic Division-leading Panthers lost a second straight game and per- haps a key player. Florida center Aleksander Barkov was knocked out of the game in the second period after getting hit high by the left shoulder of Red Wings winger Justin Abdelkader. Barkov’s return to the game was ruled out because of what the team described as an upper-body injury. Florida’s Al Montoya stopped 28 shots.

RANGERS 2, DEVILS 1 Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves and New York posted its first three-game winning streak since November with a victory over PITTSBURGH: A shot by Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) gets past Anaheim Ducks ROTTERDAM: Belgium’s David Goffin returns the ball to Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis New Jersey. Kevin Klein, who broke a thumb goalie John Gibson (36) for a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game in during their first round match of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in last week, scored for the first time in 28 games Pittsburgh, Monday. Crosby scored twice and had two assists in the Penguins 6-2 win. — AP Rotterdam, yesterday. — AFP and the streaking J.T. Miller scored for the ninth time in 10 games while the Rangers beat the Devils for the first time in three Mercedes expect McLaren games this season. This win came with captain NHL results/standings Ryan McDonagh sidelined with a concussion. to raise their game It was New York’s fifth straight victory at NY Rangers 2, New Jersey 1; Pittsburgh 6, Anaheim 2; Ottawa 5, Tampa Bay 1; Detroit 3, Florida 0. Madison Square Garden, and the Rangers are Western Conference Tampa Bay 29 19 4 140 126 62 LONDON: Formula One champions They have Spaniard Fernando Alonso 7-3 in their last 10 overall. Cory Schneider Central Division Boston 28 18 6 155 138 62 Mercedes expect to be beaten by Ferrari and Britain’s Jenson Button, both cham- made 35 saves for New Jersey, which lost its W L OTL GF GA PTS Detroit 27 18 8 134 134 62 this season and also see McLaren catch- pions, racing for them. Honda faced a third straight (0-1-2). Travis Zajac scored a Chicago 36 16 4 159 128 76 Montreal 26 24 4 147 144 56 ing up fast after a dismal 2015 for the steep learning curve, returning a year short-handed goal with 2:17 left to spoil Dallas 33 15 5 172 144 71 Ottawa 25 23 6 157 170 56 St. Louis 30 17 8 135 132 68 Honda-powered team, engine head after the introduction of the new V6 tur- Lundqvist’s shutout bid. Buffalo 21 26 6 121 143 48 Nashville 25 20 8 138 140 58 Andy Cowell said. bo hybrid engines triggered the era of Toronto 19 23 9 122 145 47 “Nobody here is assuming we are Mercedes domination. SENATORS 5, LIGHTNING 1 Colorado 27 24 4 149 152 58 Minnesota 23 20 9 127 128 55 Metropolitan Division going to win. Everybody here is assum- McLaren finished ninth of 10 teams Mark Stone had two goals and an assist Washington 38 9 4 169 115 80 ing we’re going to get beaten by Ferrari, last season, plagued by unreliability and and Ottawa beat Tampa Bay. Stone has five Winnipeg 23 26 3 136 152 49 Pacific Division NY Rangers 30 18 5 153 137 65 and Honda are a big threat,” the BBC a lack of power. “They have come in goals and three assists in his past four games. Los Angeles 31 17 3 137 119 65 Pittsburgh 27 18 7 139 135 61 quoted the Mercedes executive as saying quickly and they are learning in front of He went eight straight without a point prior San Jose 27 20 4 149 139 58 NY Islanders 27 18 6 146 130 60 on a recent factory visit. the public but they’re hugely deter- to this stretch. The Senators gave the Anaheim 25 19 7 115 123 57 New Jersey 26 21 7 122 128 59 Ferrari won three of 19 races last sea- mined, and partnered with McLaren, Lightning their second loss in 12 games. Zack Arizona 24 22 6 139 162 54 Carolina 24 21 9 130 144 57 son, the first year at Maranello for four- who are hugely determined,” said Cowell. Smith, Shane Prince and Jean-Gabriel Pageau Vancouver 20 20 12 124 145 52 Philadelphia 23 19 9 123 138 55 times champion Sebastian Vettel after “We know exactly how McLaren work in also scored for Ottawa, and Craig Anderson Calgary 23 25 3 135 150 49 Columbus 21 28 5 138 170 47 the German’s move from Red Bull. terms of a data-driven approach, so they made 31 saves. Pageau added two assists. Edmonton 21 28 5 136 165 47 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one Mercedes won the rest, with Britain’s are going to make some big, big gains,” Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 24 of 28 shots for Eastern Conference point in the standings and are not included in Lewis Hamilton clinching his third title he added. Tampa Bay. J.T. Brown scored the Lightning’s Atlantic Division the loss column (L). and winning 10 grands prix to team Cowell said there was plenty more to only goal. — AP Florida 31 16 6 148 119 68 mate Nico Rosberg’s six. The team have come from the Mercedes engine, with won 32 of 38 races in the last two years. some ‘mind-blowing’ gains seen in the McLaren, the sport’s second most suc- area of thermal efficiency-how much of IAAF looking into claims cessful team after Ferrari, have not won a the energy in the fuel is converted into race since 2012 and were powered by power from the engine. The season, with Mercedes engines until starting a new a record 21 races, starts in Australia on partnership with Honda last year. March 20. — Reuters of state doping in China

BEIJING: The IAAF is investigating the authentici- ten in Chinese and which Zhao provided to nating evidence, and Ma had claimed Wang was ty of a two-decade-old letter published in Tencent this week - is genuine. “If an athlete has fed nothing more than turtle blood, ginseng and Chinese media that suggests state-sanctioned admitted that, at some time prior to achieving a a stamina-boosting fungus. doping in the 1990s, and casts doubt on the long- world record, he had used or taken advantage of a In the chapter, Zhao wrote that the distance standing world records set by Wang Junxia in the substance or technique prohibited at that time, runners under Ma were deeply troubled by the women’s 3,000 and 10,000 meters. then, subject to the advice of the medical and use of the performance-enhancing drugs but Wang’s records could be annulled if the former anti-doping commission, such record will not con- were too afraid to speak up because national Olympic and world champion has admitted to tinue to be regarded as a world record by the honor was at stake. Zhao wrote that the practice doping before setting the marks in 1993, the IAAF,” the statement said. A woman who answered began before 1990 and that Ma used the drugs International Association of Athletics Federations the call at the Chinese Athletics Association said extensively on the athletes after 1991. said Friday. Chinese website Tencent reported she had no knowledge of the case. He explained the team fell apart at the end of that Wang wrote a letter, signed by nine other 1994 when the national swimming team got hit members of coach Ma Junren’s training program, SCANDAL RESURFACE with doping scandals and that the runners - after in 1995 to journalist Zhao Yu allegedly revealing The scandal resurfaced this month in China, leaving Ma’s program - saw their performances that athletes were forced to take banned sub- when social media began heated discussions on plunge. Just ahead of the 2000 Sydney Games, stances and Ma injected athletes himself. doping following a recently-published chapter Ma’s team was prohibited from competing, even “It’s all true that Coach Ma had beaten, verbally about Ma’s track team, which was known collec- though seven members qualified. abused and mistreated us for years,” said the let- tively as “Ma’s Army.” Nine years later, a senior Chinese sports official ter, dated March 28, 1995. “It’s also true that he The chapter had been banned for years but revealed that an internal doping test showed six had coaxed or forced us into using large quanti- was printed in 2014 when publishing authorities of the seven runners from Ma’s program were ties of banned drugs. “His crimes must be believed the Chinese public would be able to most likely to have been using drugs. revealed because we don’t want to see the same accept the scandal, Zhao told the Chinese media. Wang clocked 29 minutes, 31.78 seconds at thing to happen to the next generation,” accord- Ma and his team were considered national China’s national games in September 1993, shat- ing to the letter. “Such inhumane tortures have heroes for winning medals and setting records at tering the 10,000-meter mark by 42 seconds. No brought us to the brink of a complete collapse.” world events, which was then considered a para- runner has come within 22 seconds of her time The IAAF issued a statement on Friday saying it mount national pride not to be questioned. since then. Wang’s record in the 3,000 is 8:06.11, only became aware of the allegations when con- In 2008, Wang denied doping in an interview also set at the 1993 national games. Wang won CANELONES: Uruguay’s national football team coach Oscar Washington Tabarez is tacted by Chinese media, and has asked the with The Associated Press, ascribing her record gold in the 10,000 at the 1993 world champi- interviewed by AFP at the Celeste Sports Complex in Canelones, 27 km from Chinese Athletics Association to assist with an times to her youth, health and a brutal training onships and in the 5,000 at the 1996 Atlanta Montevideo, yesterday. — AFP investigation to verify if the letter - which is writ- regimen. Drug tests then turned up no incrimi- Olympics. — AP