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SCMP Reporter

SUNDAY

Motorcycling: World champion Valentino Rossi is an hour into celebrating his victory at the British Grand Prix when officials rudely interrupt his party to tell him: 'Sorry, but you didn't really win.' Rossi is relegated to third place - behind bitter rival Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau of Spain - after being penalised for an illegal manoeuvre during the second lap. Despite the setback Rossi still has a healthy 34-point lead in the standings.

Cycling: Four-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is back in the familiar yellow jersey for the first time in this year's edition of the race after finishing in third place in the eighth stage. But the 31-year-old Texan admits he isn't finding it easy. 'I don't think I'm perhaps as strong as in the other years,' he says. 'I had some issues at the start of the race, and now I'm a little better. But if you'd asked me a month ago if I'd be suffering like that on the Alpe d'Huez, I'd have said, 'No way'.'

MONDAY

Rugby union: World champions Australia are well short of the mark - and that's according to their captain George Gregan. 'Probably a fair bit of it [the criticism from the media] was justified. It was a disappointing performance. Right across the board we were outplayed and outmuscled,' Gregan says after the Wallabies' 26-22 loss to the Springboks in Cape Town.

Soccer: Hong Kong Football Association president Timothy Fok Tsun-ting puts on a brave face after confirming that China will not be sending any of their stars to join Hong Kong in the August 8 match against Real Madrid. He insists that this may, in fact, be a blessing in disguise. 'Many Hong Kong people wanted to see Real Madrid playing the Hong Kong team,' he says, 'so it is possibly better now [that the mainland players are unavailable].' Silver linings come in strange forms.

TUESDAY

Squash: Who says Hong Kong youth are more interested in video games than sports? The SAR's Joey Chan, 15, shows what our younger generation are capable of when she beats some of the world's top junior players to win her second under-17 squash title in the space of a week at the Dutch Junior Open, adding to her Pioneer Junior Cup success in Germany seven days earlier. 'Our juniors often compete in the Asia-Pacific area, and at the British and Scottish Junior Open events. But now we know our junior level is good enough to compete all over the world,' says a proud Heather Deayton, the executive director of Hong Kong Squash.

Athletics: Australian heroine Kathy Freeman hangs up her spikes after admitting she has lost her passion for the track. The Olympic 400-metre champion, who was embraced by her nation after her gold medal performance in Sydney in 2000, says: 'I thought, you know, I retain my passion to keep fit and train and run but just my will to try to be the best I can be is no longer in me. So retirement it is.'

WEDNESDAY

Soccer: Cash-rich Chelsea offer GBP17 million for winger Damien Duff and this time it is an offer Blackburn cannot refuse, after having turned down three earlier bids. The deal is just the latest in a string of big-money moves involving the Blues since new owner Roman Abramovich took charge of the club. However, a source reveals that Chelsea will not be spending with abandon. 'Abramovich is no fool and although it suits him to be linked with a host of big deals he will expect to land only one or two,' the source says.

Baseball: The American League will have home field advantage for the World Series after beating the National League in the All-Star game. The AL's unlikely hero is Hank Blalock, whose two-run, pinch-hit homer in the eighth helps his side to a 7-6 victory. 'I'm sure whoever [from the AL] reaches the World Series in a Game Seven or something like that will send [Blalock] a 12-pack of something,' says Jason Giambi.

THURSDAY

Cricket: Australians are told to mind their language after recent on-field incidents prompt International Cricket Council president Malcolm Gray to call the team 'world leaders in sledging'. Skipper Steve Waugh promises his team will behave better. 'We have some things to work on, we've talked about that, we've talked about that for the past couple of years, but occasionally things get out of control,' he says. Anger management should do the trick.

Soccer: Talk about a Real deal. Hong Kong fans will have to dig deep into their pockets if they want to watch Real Madrid on August 8. Organisers announce ticket prices will range from $500-$1,500 - more expensive than tickets for last year's World Cup matches in Japan and South Korea. The good news is that half of the tickets - around 20,000 - will be available to the public. 'We have been working extremely hard to ensure that as many fans as possible will have the opportunity to watch this historic match,' says Hong Kong Football Association president Timothy Fok Tsun-ting. 'As a result, we are delighted to announce that approximately 20,000 tickets will be on sale to the public, including some tickets allocated to the Hong Kong Tourism Board which will be sold overseas.'

FRIDAY

Basketball: Yao Ming is coming to town, and that's not a tall tale. The Chinese sensation, who has taken the NBA by storm, is confirmed as a starter for August 6 when the Chinese national team take on Australian side the Melbourne Tigers at the Hong Kong Coliseum. And the good news is, unlike the Real Madrid visit, organisers are promising to keep ticket prices affordable. 'If it was up to me I'd say let's have free entry for the match,' says Hong Kong Basketball Association chairman Norman Chan Shui-tim. 'I'll try to persuade our partners in the mainland, who are helping us to arrange the game, to keep ticket prices as low as possible. I'd be upset if the tickets cost more than $300.'

Soccer: China, who had to give up the hosting rights to the Women's World Cup because of the Sars outbreak, have at least got the consolation of being drawn into one of the easier groups in the tournament, which will now be held in the United States in September. China will meet Russia, Australia and Ghana, who are ranked 11th, 15th and 53rd in the world respectively. But striker Zhang Ouying is urging caution. 'In the World Cup, every team is very tough,' she says.



Replay - The week in review