New badminton dates for SEA meet

New badminton dates for SEA meet

SINGAPORE: Southeast Asia's three grand prix badminton
tournaments, originally postponed due to the SARS crisis, will be
played in August, the International Badminton Federation (IBF)
said Wednesday.

"The International Badminton Federation (IBF) is pleased to
announce the rescheduling of the Singapore, Indonesia and
Malaysia Open World Grand Prix events," the IBF said.

"The three Southeast Asian tournaments, due to have been held
in late June/early July, were postponed last month because of the
continuing nervousness of players and officials to travel and
mingle with others from SARS-affected areas."

The decision to put the events back on the calendar came after
the world championships, originally set for May 12-18 in
Birmingham, were also rescheduled for July 26 to August 3, as the
SARS crisis eased. --AFP

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Putbriefs-Boxing-Tszyu
Tszyu injured in training - world title bout postponed
JP/9/Brief

Tszyu injured in training

SYDNEY, Australia: Kostya Tszyu's super-lightweight world
title fight with American Sharmba Mitchell has been postponed for
at least two months after he injured an Achilles tendon in
training, his manager said on Wednesday.

Tszyu's manager Matthew Watt said the proposed Sept. 27 bout
in Moscow against Mitchell would now probably be rescheduled for
late November or early December.

Watt said Tszyu had to finalize terms for the bout with
promoter Vlad Warton, but the venue and opponent would remain
unchanged.

"This is a hiccup, but we don't want to focus on the injury,
we want to focus on Kostya fighting later in the year," Watt
said. --AFP

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Putbriefs-Soccer-Zidane
Zidane sponsors summer camp for Algerian children quake victims
JP/9/Brief

Zidane sponsors summer camp

MADRID: Two-time World Footballer of the Year Zinedine Zidane
and his club Real Madrid are to sponsor 20 Algerian children
affected by last month's deadly earthquake to allow them to spend
time at a summer camp.

The 30-year-old French-born son of Algerian immigrants will
also spend two days with children at the camp which brings
together 500 young people from July 16 to 30, it was announced on
Tuesday.

The May 21 earthquake measured 6.8 on the Richter scale,
killing 2,271 and injuring more than 10,000 according to latest
government figures. --AFP

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Putbriefs-Golf-USLPGA-Wie
13-year-old qualifies for women's US Open
JP/9/Brief

Wie, 13, qualifies for women's US Open

ORLANDO, Florida: Thirteen-year-old Michelle Wie has qualified
for the women's US Open.

Wie won her place at the first hole of a qualifying playoff in
Florida on Monday.

The teenager from Honolulu, who doesn't turn 14 until October,
has already played in one major senior tournament, the LPGA event
at Rancho Mirage, California in March, where she finished ninth.

She will have 15-year-old Morgan Presley for company at the
Open. Presley also qualified for the event when she was 13.

The women's US Open is taking place from July 3-6 at North
Plains, Oregon. --AFP