Global sports

Papua New Guinean Olympic boxing hopeful Tony Miriks has been knifed to death just one day after he returned from Australia, where he earned a silver at the Oceania Olympic qualifiers in Canberra.

Disclosure of his death – in what police described as `a drunken brawl in daylight last Friday. The 26-year-old amateur boxer died from multiple knifewounds. His body was found on Saturday morning next to a church.

US, China rematch

CANBERRA: Nearly 11 months after their thrilling women’s soccer World Cup final played before more than 90,000 people, the United States and China meet on Wednesday in the more intimate surroundings of Bruce Stadium.

Canada will play New Zealand and Australia takes on Japan in other first-day matches at the inaugural Pacific Cup that runs to June 11 in three Australian cities. Originally an eight-team tournament, the format was adapted after the withdrawal of North Korea and Scotland. The six teams will play a round-robin format with the winner being determined on total points.

Lightning kills footballer

NIS (YUGOSLAVIA): A footballer was killed and several others injured by lightning which struck in the South of Serbia here on Monday, said Dragan Pantelic, the director of the Radnicki club.

Ivan Krstic died instantly and others were treated in hopsital before being sent home, Pantelic added. The incident happened during a training session of the club which finished 11th in the 1999/2000 Yugoslavian championship.

Edmundo is back

RIO dE JANEIRO: Edmundo never seems to run out of second chances. Brazilian soccer’s resident bad boy was the surprise on the list of players named on Monday for Brazil’s qualifying game with Peru next Sunday for the 2002 World Cup.

The choice was even more unexpected because Edmundo has just returned from an injury. Still, he looked sharp, scoring a goal and passing for another in Vasco’s 3-3 tie with Flamengo in a Rio de Janeiro state league match on Sunday.

Soccer stars to sue Sony

BRUSSELS: Three European soccer clubs and several players are suing Sony and four other video game makers over what they claim are games in which they star without permission.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Electronic Arts, Rage Games, Infogrames UK and Eidos are targetted in the lawsuit lodged in Belgium for the images they created in a number of computer titles. The games `This is football, `FIF 2000′, `UEFA Champions League 1999/2000′ and `UEFA Euro 2000′, were at the centre of the dispute said Jean-Lous Dupont, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs include Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam, Czech club Slavia Prague and Italy’s Vincenza. About a dozen players are also involved, including Georghe Hagi, Georghe Pepescu, Adrian Ilie and Abel Xavier.