Sports round-up

Boxing: Japan’s former World Boxing Council super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka announced his retirement yesterday, a month after losing a world title bout to Nonito Donaire, of the Philippines. Nishioka, nicknamed “Speed King” for his fast-paced fighting style and dreaded for his devastating straight left, made his professional debut in 1994 and became WBC super bantamweight champion in 2008. He has a professional record of 39 wins, 24 of them by knockout, five losses and three draws.

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Athletics: Allyson Felix (picture) and Ashton Eaton were named the winners of the 2012 Jesse Owens Award on Monday, given annually by USA Track and Field to the country’s outstanding athletics performers. At the London Olympics, Felix won three gold medals, finally capturing a long-awaited individual gold in the 200m and also striking gold in the 4x400m relay and in the world-record setting 4x100m relay. Eaton’s 2012 season started with a national title in the long jump. He then bettered his own world record in the heptathlon and went on to win Olympic gold in London with a total of 8,869 points.

Golf: Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods were among five players nominated for the PGA Tour player of the year award that will be voted on by their peers. Northern Ireland’s McIlroy is the clear favourite after leading the tour with four wins, including an eight-shot victory at the PGA Championship. He also won the Vardon Trophy and the US money title. The world number one also claimed the European money title, joining Luke Donald as the only players to top the earnings list in both Europe and the United States.

Skiing: Four-time alpine World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn has been admitted to hospital in Vail, Colorado, with an undisclosed illness, her spokesman confirmed. Lewis Kay declined to disclose any further details about Vonn, who cancelled a promotional event in Vail on Friday because she did not feel well. Vonn skipped a World Cup slalom in Finland at the weekend, preferring to prepare for the giant slalom and slalom set for Aspen, Colorado, on November 24-25.

Horse Racing: Frankie Dettori, one of the outstanding jockeys of his generation, failed a drugs test when riding at Longchamp in France in September, his lawyer announced yesterday. The legendary Italian rider’s positive result will be the subject of a hearing conducted by France Galop, French racing’s govern-ing body, in Paris next week. No details of the sub-stance in question were forth-coming. The 41-year-old Dettori had four rides at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe trials meeting on September 16.

Basket, NBA: The Utah Jazz needed three over-time periods but finally locked up their first road win of the NBA season, 140-133 over the Toronto Raptors. Jazz centre Al Jefferson hit game-tying shots to send the contest to a first extra period and then a second. He scored 24 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, while Paul Millsap scored a season-high 34 points for a Jazz team that had lost their first four games on the road.