Ghana: Chelsea’s Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari, of Inter, were missing from the 18-man Ghana squad for the friendly against South Africa in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Essien, who missed the World Cup because of a knee injury, was ruled out as he has only just returned to action for Chelsea. Muntari wasn’t considered by coach Milovan Rajevac after falling foul of disciplinary rules.
Muamba: Fabrice Muamba has committed his future to Bolton, signing a new four-year contract with the Premier League club. His new deal will keep him at Bolton under the summer of 2014.
Kapo: Midfielder Olivier Kapo has left Wigan after the player and club mutually agreed to his exit. The 29-year-old made 22 league appearances since his arrival from Birmingham in 2008.
Diouf: Manchester United’s Senegal international striker Mame Biram Diouf agreed to a season-long loan at Premier League rivals Blackburn Rovers. The 22-year-old arrived at Old Trafford last season from Norwegian side Molde where he scored 33 goals in 75 games. Diouf made six appearances for United last season, scoring one goal.
Friendlies: Rangers vs Newcastle 2-1; Cologne vs Sampdoria 2-0; Birmingham vs Mallorca 0-1; Fulham vs W. Bremen 5-1; Hearts vs Blackburn 1-1; Tottenham vs Fiorentina 3-2; West Ham vs Deportivo 0-0; Wolves vs A. Bilbao 2-1; L. Warsaw vs Arsenal 5-6; Wolfsburg vs Everton 2-0.
Swimming: Russian triple world champion Natalia Ischenko won the solo synchronised title at the European Championships yesterday, her 98.900 points enough to see off Spain’s Andrea Fuentes (96.600) and Ukraine’s Lolita Ananasova (93.000). Ischenko bagged the honours in the non-Olympic discipline which went to Spain’s Gemma Mengual two years ago. Mengual is not competing this year in Budapest as she is currently expecting a child.
Diving: The world’s most successful female diver Guo Jingjing will skip this year’s Asian Games in southern China, fuelling speculation about her future in the sport. “We have selected a 20-member provisional squad for the diving events of the Guangzhou Asian Games and Guo Jingjing is not included,” Zhou Jihong, head of the Chinese diving team, said. China’s most famous female athlete, Guo has won six medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. The 29-year-old has not competed since the East Asian Games last December.
Golf: Yang Yong-Eun and Tiger Woods, who battled side-by-side down the final holes of last year’s PGA Championship, will start this week’s edition of the year’s last golf major paired together again. Tournament officials announced pairings for the first and second rounds of the event at Whistling Straits and Woods was again matched with Yang as the Asian star tries to defend his historic title. Yang became the first Asian man to win a major golf title.
Rugby Union: Sonny Bill Williams made a humble start yesterday to his much-hyped dream of becoming an All Black, making his New Zealand rugby debut on a rural paddock in a minor club match. But such is Williams reputation that a crowd of 3,000 turned out to watch his Belfast side beat Lincoln University 22-8. It was Williams’s first game since the European Challenge Cup final in May after which he turned down a world record offer of five million dollars to stay with French club Toulon and then underwent knee surgery.