Sports round-up

Golf: The Australian duo of Brendan Jones and Richard Green shot an impressive 11-under-par 61 yesterday to take an early lead at the World Cup and upstage Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. The unfancied pair carded seven birdies and an eagle each during their aggressive round-one play on the par-72 Blackstone course at the Mission Hills golf resort on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

Tennis: Swiss world number 17, Stanislas Wawrinka will start the new year by defending his title at the $450,000 ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament from January 2-8, organisers said yesterday. Wawrinka, who beat Xavier Malisse of Belgium in this year’s final, will make his fourth successive appearance in South Asia’s only ATP event in the southern Indian city of Chennai.

Rugby union: World Cup-winning All Blacks captain Richie McCaw will be out for up to three months after undergoing successful surgery on his injured right foot. McCaw will be in plaster for two weeks and then a moonboot for a month. Around 10 to 12 weeks post-surgery he will be able to start running and then will gradually return to rugby training.

Basketball: Months after retiring from basketball, Chinese sporting hero Yao Ming is venturing into business by setting up a wine company to meet a growing thirst for the tipple in his home country. Yao Family Wines will sell vintages using grapes from the famed Napa Valley region of California, reflecting his time playing in the NBA.The first batch of “Yao Ming” wine, as it will be branded, is a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon which will sell in China for 3,800 yuan ($600) a bottle.