Golf: Former major champion Louis Oosthuizen is to take another shot at the Barclays Singapore Open next month after missing out on the $1 million paycheck last year. The South African world number 12 finished third in the 2011 edition of the tournament behind Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, of Spain, and second-placed Juvic Pagunsan, of the Philippines. Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion and runner-up in this year’s US Masters, will join fellow major champions Irishman Padraig Harrington and Kiwi Michael Campbell for the event from November 8-11, organisers said.
New York Marathon: Ethiopia’s Firehiwot Dado will not defend her title at next month’s New York Marathon after withdrawing from the race because of an injury. Dado had been unable to train for the November 4 race because of an infected heel blister. The 28-year-old African rallied in the last 10 miles to win her first major marathon title last year in New York. Dado was fourth at this year’s Boston Marathon in 2:34:56. Among the entrants for this year’s New York Marathon are reigning world champion Edna Kiplagat, of Kenya, and London Olympic women’s marathon champion Tiki Gelana, of Ethiopia.
Cricket: India’s record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar is to be conferred with membership of the Order of Australia, visiting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in New Delhi yesterday. Gillard, currently on a three-day state visit to India, told reporters that Tendulkar deserved the “special honour” because he was a “very special cricketer”. “Cricket is of course a great bond between Australia and India. We are both cricket-mad nations,” she said. The award will be conferred on the 39-year-old Tendulkar during Australian minister Simon Crean’s upcoming visit to India, Gillard said.
[attach id=213335 size="medium"][/attach]
Alpine Skiing: US ski star Lindsey Vonn (picture), who has been seeking a start in the men’s downhill race in Lake Louise in November, says she will only compete there if she can also take part in the women’s race a week later. “If it’s not possible to do the women’s World Cup race in Lake Louise, then I definitely won’t race with the men either,” the 27-year-old told Austrian private channel Servus TV in an interview in German broadcast. “That needs to be clarified first, that I can still race with the women,” she added.
Rugby Union: All Blacks centre Ma’a Nonu said he plans to switch to the Otago Highlanders for the 2013 Super 15 season, ending his one-year stint with the Auckland Blues. Nonu cited family reasons for the move, quashing speculation the 30-year-old would wind down his career with a lucrative move to Japan in the wake of last year’s Rugby World Cup victory. Nonu is the second high-profile Blues player to move to the Highlanders during the off-season, with prop Tony Woodcock also defecting after a disappointing season in which Auckland finished 12th on the Super 15 ladder.
Cycling: Australian Olympic chief John Coates renewed his calls for the nation’s anti-doping body to have the right to compel witnesses to give evidence as it probes doping in cycling. The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) said it will launch an investigation after former Olympic cyclist Matt White admitted involvement in the Lance Armstrong doping conspiracy. Coates yesterday urged the government to strengthen ASADA’s powers. “I suggest that government should again consider strengthening ASADA’s powers to investigate allegations of doping practices by including the power to compel witnesses to attend and give evidence and to produce documents relevant to such investigations,” he wrote.