NEw SARS-likE viRUS EMERGES iN MidEASt - Kuwait Times

UNCASVILLE: Connecticut’s Kelsey Griffin (center) beats Atlanta’s
Catherine Kraayeveld (left) and Aneika Henry (13) to a rebound in the
second half of WNBA Eastern Conference action.—AP
Sun shines over Dream
UNCASVILLE: Kara Lawson had 21 points,
eight rebounds, and set the franchise record
for 3-pointers in a season as the Connecticut
Sun finished the regular season with a 92-72
win over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday.
Lawson has made 74 3-pointers this season,
topping Katie Douglas’ mark of 73 set in 2006.
Tina Charles had 17 points and nine
rebounds for the Sun (25-9). She also finished
with a WNBA-best 345 rebounds and a 10.5
average. Mistie Mims had nine points and five
steals, and Kalana Greene scored 12 for
Connecticut, Lindsay Harding scored 16
points, and Erika de Souza had 13 points and
eight rebounds for Atlanta (19-15). Angel
McCoughtry added 12 points and secured the
league’s scoring title with an average of 21.4.
Fever 91, Shock 58
At Indianapolis, Erin Phillips matched a
career high with 21 points, and Indiana beat
Tulsa in the regular-season finale.
Tamika Catchings added 20 points and 10
rebounds for the Fever. Catchings posted her
82 career double-double, breaking a secondplace
tie in WNBA history with Yolanda
Griffith. The Fever (22-12) matched their franchise
record for wins in a season. Indiana had
lost three straight before beating Washington
on Friday. Ivory Latta led the Shock (9-25)
with 16 points. Scholanda Dorrell scored 14,
Amber Holt had 10, and Glory Johnson added
eight points and 11 rebounds for Tulsa.
The Fever won easily despite playing without
three starters. Katie Douglas sat out with
an illness, and guards Briann January and
guard Shavonte Zellous missed the game due
to concussion-like symptoms. Jessica
Davenport scored 18 points, and Karima
Christmas added a season-high 10 for
Indiana.
Silver Stars 99, Lynx 84
At San Antonio, Danielle Adams scored 28
points, and San Antonio finished the regular
season with a win over Minnesota.
Tangela Smith added 15 points, Danielle
Robinson had 14, and Shameka Christon
scored 13 for playoff-bound San Antonio (21-
13). Seimone Augustus had 18 points, Monica
Wright 16 and Lindsay Whalen 14 for defending
champion Minnesota (27-7). The Lynx,
who have the league’s best record, missed an
opportunity to match the best regular-season
record in WNBA history. The Silver Stars set a
season high for points in a game despite playing
without Becky Hammon and Sophia
Young, who rested before the playoffs.
Minnesota will face Seattle in the first round
of the postseason.
Storm 71, Mercury 57
At Phoenix, Sue Bird had 13 points, five
rebounds and four assists to help Seattle beat
Phoenix. Seeded fourth in the West, Seattle
(16-18) played its regulars most of the game
before its playoff series with defending champion
Minnesota that begins Friday. The Storm
have reached the postseason a WNBA-record
nine consecutive seasons.
With their seventh straight loss, the lastplace
Mercury (7-27) recorded their worst
season in franchise history, surpassing an 8-
26 mark in 2003. They missed the playoffs for
the first time since 2008. DeWanna Bonner
had 13 points to lead Phoenix.
Camille Little had 14 points and eight
rebounds, and Shekinna Sticklen added 10
points for the Storm, who finished the regular
season with three straight victories.
Candice Dupree, in her third game after
knee surgery, had 10 points and three
rebounds in 21 minutes. Krystal Thomas, cut
by Seattle and Phoenix but signed by the
Mercury five days into the regular season, had
a career-best 18 rebounds. It was her franchise-record
fifth straight game of 10 or more
rebounds—AP
Streetfighter Vettel takes
title showdown to Alonso
SINGAPORE: Sebastian Vettel displayed all
the guts and determination of a world champion
to haul himself back into the Formula
One title race with a Singapore victory that
sets up a mouth-watering finale to the season.
Vettel kept his focus to win a “killer” race
that ran for a full two hours on a balmy
Sunday night, enabling the German to cut
championship leader Fernando Alonso’s
advantage to 29 points with six rounds
remaining as he seeks a hat-trick of crowns.
To say the title showdown has come down
to a duel between Vettel’s Red Bull and
Alonso’s Ferrari could be premature given the
topsy-turvy nature of this season but while
both men have bemoaned a lack of pace,
they make up for it in consistency.
Alonso has spent all season claiming his
car is not competitive, yet he has forged
SINGAPORE: Red Bull Formula One
driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany
stands on his car as he celebrates his
win at the Singapore Formula One
Grand Prix in this file photo. —AP
ahead by picking up big points from average
positions on the grid, a feat he repeated in
Singapore by finishing third after starting
fifth. “On track, we manage to make the most
of what we have, making few or no mistakes,
thanks to great work from the team,” Alonso
told reporters after chasing home Vettel and
McLaren’s Jenson Button. “For that alone we
deserve to be where we are in the classification.
Today, we pulled out an advantage over
three of our four main competitors, which is
positive.” Vettel cut a forlorn figure after an
erratic race in Monza two weeks ago ended
prematurely with an alternator failure, leaving
many observers to doubt whether the
German had the desire or the vehicle to
mount a serious title challenge. His demeanor
had changed by Sunday after a polished drive
backed up his domination in practice as both
he and Alonso benefited from another failure
for Lewis Hamilton, who has offset three wins
with three retirements in the last eight races.
All season long, McLaren’s rivals have
claimed the British car was the most competitive
yet Hamilton’s challenge took a body
blow on Sunday when he surrendered the
lead on the 23rd lap with a gearbox failure
and is now 52 points behind Alonso.
“A tremendous result for Sebastian and
the team to win in Singapore. It’s a timely win
for both championships,” Red Bull team principal
Christian Horner said.
“It was unfortunate for Lewis to retire from
the lead, we know how that feels and it’s never
a good feeling. “Nonetheless, Sebastian
had tremendous pace all weekend and it’s a
shame in some respects, as I’m sure they’d
have had a great race over the remainder of
the grand prix.”
Kimi Raikkonen also lost ground in
Singapore as his Lotus proved unresponsive
on the tight street circuit with his sixth-place
finish dropping him 45 points off the pace as
he still searches for a first victory in his comeback
season.
The teams now head to Suzuka for the
Japanese Grand Prix on Oct. 7 and while the
circuit is a sweeping tribute to near-perfect
track design, the title contenders have only
one thing on their minds - to finish in the
points. “(The championship situation) looks
better than before,” Vettel said after collecting
his 23rd career victory. “Fernando finished
third and it’s 10 points better than before.
There are a lot of races left, and it’s difficult to
predict what is going to happen but we have
to make sure we finish the races.
“The pace is there and even if we are not
quick enough to win - we have to make sure
we do that. It is a tough championship so far
but we are still in it.”
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali
expects the team to make incremental
improvements to the car over the final races
of the season but ruled out making drastic
changes. “There are six grands prix to go to
the end of the season and clearly, we need to
make a step forward in terms of performance,
because we cannot rely purely on the misfortune
of others,” he said. “Where we need to
improve a lot is on circuits that require maximum
aerodynamic downforce. Having said
that, we mustn’t over-react as it’s better to
bring a few updates that work rather than
bringing in too many.”—Reuters
sports
NEW YORK: There’s always something to sell
in boxing, some angle to make you pay. The
latest from Manny Pacquiao is he’s willing to
do everything but pick up Floyd
Mayweather Jr. and drive him to the arena to
make the megafight boxing has been waiting
way too long for. Pacquiao says Mr.
Money can have more money, and get top
billing. He can watch him take his steroid
tests, and even choose the food at the prefight
press conference if he wants. “He can
even wear my trunks if it gets him in the ring
with me,” Pacquiao said.
“I want to fight Floyd Mayweather next.”
Unfortunately for boxing fans, Pacquiao is
not fighting Mayweather next. He’s meeting
Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time, a
fight so unattractive that he needs to talk
about Mayweather to get anyone to pay
attention to it. That’s not entirely Pacman’s
fault. Actually, most of it is Mayweather’s
fault for refusing to step up for the fight that
would likely define his career.
His nonsensical rants about steroids and
patriotism whenever Pacquiao’s name is
brought up are just that. His strange reluctance
to prove his boast that he is the best
fighter in the world brings into doubt just
how legitimate that boast is.
Still, he remains the biggest draw in boxing,
something he proves every fight with
his big pay-per-view numbers. The mere
mention of his name sells tickets, though it’s
anyone’s guess when he will fight again
after serving more than two months in jail
this summer.
It’s been nearly four years since Pacquiao
gave Oscar De La Hoya such a beating that
he sent him into retirement, a fight that
started the buzz about a Pacquiao-
Mayweather match. It seemed sure to happen,
and it seemed sure to be the richest
fight ever, with both boxers pocketing at
least $40 million. My guess now is
Mayweather and Pacquiao will never meet
in the ring, even now when Pacquiao is
offering to take 45 percent of the purse to
55 percent for Mayweather. I’ve felt that way
for some time, and the feeling was reinforced
when Mayweather went apoplectic
when I dared to ask him before his fight
against Miguel Cotto in May why he wasn’t
fighting Pacquiao instead.
That doesn’t mean Pacquiao can’t use his
erstwhile rival to sell some tickets of his
own. And that’s all he’s really doing by calling
out Mayweather now when he’s got
another fighter in front of him. I’ve been
ringside for all three of Pacquiao’s fights
with Marquez, and they’ve all been good,
close fights that could have gone either way.
Their styles guarantee a competitive fight,
and if you liked the first 36 rounds you’ll
probably dig the credit card out to pay for
another 12.
But do I want to see them fight for a
fourth time on Dec. 8? Not particularly. But
that is the fight promoter Bob Arum gave us
when he told Timothy Bradley he wasn’t a
big enough attraction for a second fight
with Pacquiao, even though he won the first
in a highly controversial decision.
Arum believes that Hispanic fight fans
will help Pacquiao-Marquez IV do more than
the 850,000 pay-per-views for Bradley in
June. There’s a sense, though, that Pacquiao
is fading, even though he appeared to dominate
Bradley before backing off in the final
rounds of their fight. He has been fighting
professionally now for 17 years, and the difficulty
he had getting motivated for his last
two fights is a sure sign that he’s inching
closer to the end of his lucrative career.
Beating Marquez for a third time in four
fights won’t prove anything other than
Pacquiao can still earn a big payday. Losing
to him will mean two defeats in a row for
Pacman, and almost certainly scuttle any
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012
Timing off in Pacquiao
offer to Mayweather
LAS VEGAS: WBO welterweight champion boxer Manny Pacquiao, of the
Philippines, waves as fireworks explode behind him during a boxing presentation
in Mexico City, Friday, Sept. 21. Pacquiao and his Mexican challenger
Juan Manuel Marquez are promoting their fourth fight, scheduled for Dec. 8,
2012.—AP
chance of a Mayweather fight.
Mayweather has been uncharacteristically
quiet since his release from jail in Las
Vegas, where he was serving a sentence on a
domestic abuse charge. He hasn’t revealed
what his plans are, though it’s clear he won’t
be fighting the rest of the year.
Assuming Pacquiao beats Marquez - and
that’s a big assumption - the earliest the two
could meet would be in the spring, most
likely the first week of May.
That’s also the last legitimate date for a
Pacquiao-Mayweather fight to mean anything,
and if it passes, a chance to make boxing
history will pass along with it.
Pacquiao’s offer to take less money does
put the onus of making the fight squarely on
Mayweather. He’s running out of excuses not
to fight Pacquiao, and both his legacy and
reputation will suffer if he doesn’t.
Any serious talk about a possible fight,
though, will have to wait until Pacquiao
fights Marquez. Until then any offer
Pacquiao makes is nothing more than a sales
job for Dec. 8.—AP
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Denny Hamlin (11) competes against Jimmie Johnson during the final restart in the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series auto race.—AP
Hamlin wins at New Hampshire
LOUDON: Denny Hamlin
stepped out of his car, pointed
into the air and took a mighty
swing of an invisible baseball bat.
Like Babe Ruth did before him (or
so the legend goes), Hamlin had
called his shot. The top winner in
NASCAR’s regular season earned
his series-leading fifth victory of
the year Sunday, backing up a
tweet of “We will win” with a mistake-free
and dominating run at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
in the second event of the Chase
for the Sprint Cup.
“You don’t want to sound too
cocky, but I knew what we were
capable of,” said Hamlin, who was
32nd in qualifying after his crew
put the wrong pressure in his
tires. “I know we made a couple
of big mistakes, but I said we
were fast enough to make it up
and we did.”
It was the 100th career victory
for team owner Joe Gibbs, who
also won three Super Bowls as
the coach of the Washington
Redskins. And it came with a little
teamwork, too, when Kyle Busch
slowed down to help suck some
debris off the front of Hamlin’s
car and propel him to victory.
“As fast as he was, he could
have gone to the back of any car
and pulled that off,” said Jimmie
Johnson, who finished second
and took over the Chase lead. “I
kind of thought he would be the
guy to beat and he certainly was.
We are second-best.”
Johnson will head into Dover,
Del., one of his top tracks, one
point ahead of Chicago winner
Brad Keselowski, who was sixth
Sunday. Jeff Gordon, who was
the last man to qualify for the
Chase, was third. “We had a great
race car,” said Johnson, a fivetime
NASCAR season champion,
“just not an amazing car like the
No. 11 did here today.”
Hamlin improved to third in
the Chase, seven points behind
Johnson, despite a tumultuous
week that began with him running
out of gas in Chicago and
continued when his crew used
race pressure instead of qualifying
pressure in his tires on Friday.
Hamlin also had problems with
his crew here in July, when confusion
during a tire change
dropped him into traffic and left
him scurrying to get back to the
front of the field.
But he was confident enough
on this track, where now he has
five top five finishes in his last
seven races, that he told a group
of US National Guardsmen during
a publicity trip to New
Hampshire earlier this month
that would be back to share a
few beers in victory lane. And
despite finishing 16th in Chicago,
Hamlin tweeted: “This is week 1
of 10. We will win next week.”
Hamlin had the fastest car in
both practices, but the mistake in
qualifying had him starting near
the back of the field. Hamlin said
he came to the track on Sunday
with the goal of getting into the
top 10 by the 100th lap. He did
better than that, taking the lead
on the 94th lap and holding it for
193 laps in all.
“He was the class of the field
from the time we unloaded,” said
Clint Bowyer, who finished fourth
and is tied for fifth in the Chase. “I
don’t know what they figured
out, but they figured it out in a
big way.”
Hamlin, who won in New
Hampshire in 2007, led for 150
laps here in July before a miscommunication
with crew chief
Darian Grubb over whether to
change two tires or four cost him
a chance at another win. Then, in
the Chase opener in Chicago last
week, he finished 16th after his
crew failed to fill up his tank on
the final pit stop.
But Hamlin remained confident,
in person and on Twitter,
and Gibbs said that spilled over
to a crew that was frustrated over
its own mistakes.
“That meant a lot to his team.
And I think the way you handle
things like that, being the guy
that’s wheeling the car, I think is a
big deal,” Gibbs said, commending
Grubb as well. “Those guys
are going to remember the way
they were treated and I think
they would die for them both.”
The biggest threat for Hamlin
on Sunday was a plastic bag that
was sucked onto the front of his
car, blocking part of the air
intake, with about one-third of
the race to go. Busch, who had
blown a cylinder and is not a part
of the Chase, slowed down to
allow his teammate to come up
behind him. The turbulence
between the cars blew the debris
off, and Hamlin was back on his
way.
“No matter how fast your car is
in practice, it’s no guarantee for
the race. And so I was a little
nervous about that and how the
conditions were going to
change,” Hamlin said. “But Darian
obviously gave me a lightning
fast car today. For me, my job was
relatively easy: Just make sure
that I didn’t make any enemies
on the way to the front.”—AP