Sporting briefs

Gilks: Blackpool goalkeeper Matt Gilks has been ruled out for up to two months with a broken kneecap. The Scotland international suffered the injury taking a goal-kick in last weekend’s league draw at West Ham and is now set to undergo surgery. “Such is life,” said Blackpool manager Ian Holloway. “Everything was rosy for him but all of a sudden – bang, welcome to the real world. But he’s going to be fine. It’s not life-threatening, he’s not maimed.”

Mathijsen: Hamburg’s injury problems have deepened with the news Dutch centre-back Joris Mathijsen looks set to be out for several weeks after suffering a serious leg injury in Holland’s 1-0 win over Turkey. The 30-year-old was left in obvious pain after competing for a ball and had to be put in a plaster cast at hospital in Amsterdam. Mathijsen was flown back to Hamburg after Wednesday’s game, but a scan has been delayed for several days until the swelling goes down.

King’s Cup: Barcelona and Real Madrid face fellow Primera Liga teams Athletic Bilbao and Levante respectively in the last 16 of King’s Cup, according to the draw released yesterday. The match-ups also feature two derbies: Valencia-Villarreal and Seville-Malaga. The only second division clubs left in competition, Real Betis and Cordoba, face Getafe and Deportivo respectively.

Mourinho: Real Madrid’s Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho has been appointed as an ambassador for Portugal’s bid to host the Ryder Cup in 2018. “The world’s top coach is joining our bid to win the most important golfing event in 2018, a project lead by Comporta, a region he has known since his childhood,” the Portuguese bid organisers said. Comporta is situated near the town of Setubal, 50km south of Lisbon, which is the hometown of the former Chelsea, Inter and Porto coach.

Preston: Preston have completed the emergency loan signing of Manchester United youngster Ritchie De Laet until December 13. The 21-year-old, who started his career at Royal Antwerp before moving to Stoke and then United, has enjoyed loan spells with Wrexham and Sheffield United, but will now move to Deepdale.

Borghi: Claudio Borghi resigned as coach of struggling Argentine giants Boca Juniors on Wednesday after defeat by bitter rivals River Plate on Tuesday left them in 15th place in the table. The 46-year-old, who won the World Cup with Argentina as a player in 1986, said he was leaving on good terms but that a series of poor results had left him with no option.

Golf: The 2.5-million-dollar Hong Kong Open got off to a thrilling start yesterday with England’s Simon Dyson hitting a hole-in-one for an eagle to take an early lead. Dyson started out from the 10th and got into his stride with a par and a birdie before sinking clean into the cup at the 12th with a putting wedge. The 32-year-old Dyson gets $10,000 in shares in tournament sponsor UBS for the feat last achieved in 2008 by Dyson’s compatriot Simon Griffiths, who is also playing this week.

Asian Games: China took its Asian Games gold medal tally to 100 when the host nation’s women’s lightweight double scull won their rowing race yesterday. The haul, from a possible 174 golds, means the Asian sporting heavyweights have now reached 100 gold medals in each of the last six Asiads. The country’s best haul was 183 golds at the 1990 Asian Games it hosted in Beijing.

Basket, NBA: Portland centre Greg Oden, the former top draft selection whose brief NBA career has been plagued by injuries, will have microfracture surgery on his left knee and will not play this season. Oden has not played since December, when he had surgery to repair a broken left patella. The Trail Blazers said that the microfracture surgery will repair damaged cartilage and is unrelated to the prior injury.

Rugby Union: New Zealand captain Richie McCaw and full-back Mils Muliaina are set to become the most-capped All Blacks of all time when they both make their 93rd Test appearances, against Ireland tomorrow. Both men were named in the starting side for this weekend’s international at Lansdowne Road an-nounced by coach Graham Henry yesterday after equalling former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick’s record of 92 caps in last week’s 49-3 thrashing of Scotland at Murrayfield.