New contract
TURIN, Italy - Juventus coach Antonio Conte has signed a new three-year deal with the Serie A champions that will keep him with the club until 2015. Conte, a former Juventus captain, took over last summer from Luigi Delneri, who failed to take Juventus into the Europa League with a seventh-place finish in the Italian league. The 42-year-old Conte led Juventus to the league title this season and reached the Italian Cup final. Juventus was unbeaten in the league, but lost to Napoli in the cup. "It's obviously a great day," Conte said. "Because my dream continues, after a year of working. Certainly it's a great show of admiration that fills me with pride and happiness and definitely pushes me to try to definitely do better." Conte previously coached Siena, who he guided to promotion to Serie A in his last season. It was the second time he led a team into the top flight after Bari were promoted in 2009.
NBA All-star
NEW YORK - Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and league MVP LeBron James highlight the NBA's All-Star team which was announced on Thursday. That trio are joined by Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. For Bryant, it marks his seventh consecutive and 10th first All-Star team selection. Durant, who edged Bryant for the scoring title with an average of 28 points per game, earned 117 first-team votes. James received 118 of 120 first-team votes to make his fifth consecutive team. He led Miami in scoring (27.1 points per game), assists (6.2 assists per game) and rebounding (7.9 rebounds per game). James also shot a career-best 53.1 per cent from the floor this season. The second team consists of guards Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker, forwards Kevin Love and Blake Griffin and centre Andrew Bynum. The third team comprises guards Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade, forwards Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki and centre Tyson Chandler.
Soccer test
ZURICH - FIFA says the Hawk-Eye goal-line technology system will be tested at Wembley Stadium when England play Belgium in a June 2 friendly. It's the final scheduled test of Hawk-Eye in a recognised match before FIFA's rules-making panel meets on July 2 in Kiev. The panel, known as IFAB, is considering whether to approve the English camera-based system or the Danish project GoalRef for use. GoalRef, which uses magnetic sensors to track the ball's path, is being tested in Danish league matches. FIFA says test results during the game will not be available to match officials and will not influence the result. Hawk-Eye has been tested at a semi-professional match played at Southampton's stadium last week.
Surprise win
VEDELAGO, Italy - Italian Andrea Guardini won the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Friday when the 22-year-old Farnese Vini team member held off British world champion Mark Cavendish. Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez retained the overall leader's pink jersey with three days of racing to go. Cavendish was followed home in the 149km stage by Roberto Ferrari with South African Robert Hunter in fourth. Cavendish, who is targeting the red jersey as the Tour's overall points champion, narrowly missed out on winning his fourth stage of the race. The Team Sky star will not be favoured by the make-up of the last three stages: two in the mountains and the concluding time trial. He won the intermediate sprint on Thursday at the 84km mark. In the closing stages the Isle of Man-born rider's teammates were unable to set him up for victory with Guardini launching his sprint to the line just ahead of Cavendish. Guardini, who won six stages on the Tour of Lankawi in Malaysia at the start of the season, clinched his seventh success of the year.
Investigation
NAIROBI - A Kenyan player is under investigation for fixing two 2011 World Cup matches including Kenya's huge loss against Pakistan, the ICC and Kenyan officials said on Friday. Cricket Kenya (CK) chief executive Tom Sears said the ICC wanted to know the involvement of the player, who is yet to be named, in the irregularities during the match at Hambantota, Sri Lanka which Pakistan won by a massive 205 runs after bowling out Kenya for 112. During the Pakistan innings Kenya's bowlers conceded a world record-equalling 37 wides. "Cricket Kenya was informed about the investigation on the player by the ICC late last year and we were told to leave him out of the list of the contracted players," said Sears. "Cricket Kenya has been advised not to comment on the ongoing investigations but we are happy to assist the ICC to ensure corruption in the game is dealt with and if there has been any wrongdoing, any individuals involved are punished accordingly," he added. Kenya were disappointing at the 2011 World Cup in the Indian losing all their six matches.
Big rowing team
BRISBANE - Rowing Australia will send the country's biggest sporting team to the London Games after successfully qualifying a "lucky 13" boats for the Olympic regatta. Australia sealed 47 rowing positions for the Olympics after three crews gained last-ditch places for London during the final qualifying regatta in Switzerland. The number takes rowing above swimming (44), athletics (likely 41) and cycling (30) as the biggest Australian teams in the Olympic village when the Games start on July 27. Rowing Australia pre-qualified 10 boats at last year's world titles, but single sculler Kim Crow and lightweight doubles sculls duo Tom Gibson and Rod Chisholm on Thursday morning (AEST) added to the efforts of the women's eight in Lucerne. The men's single scull is the only class Australia won't be represented in, giving Germany the biggest rowing team in London after managing to qualify all 14 boats. Hosts Great Britain will also have 13 crews in action at Eton Dorney but it remains to be seen whether Australia enters each of their boats.
Top seeds
NICE, France - Nikolay Davydenko beat top seed John Isner 6-4 7-6 (7-4) to reach the Nice Open semi-finals yesterday, while second seed Gilles Simon and No.3 Nicolas Almagro also won through. Although Isner hit 13 aces, the American did not break Davydenko's serve. The Russian saved three break points and broke Isner once in the first set. Davydenko, once ranked No.3 in the world, next plays world No.216 Brian Baker of the United States or Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan. Simon, who grew up in Nice, did not face a single break point in a comfortable 7-5 6-0 win against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci. He will play Almagro for a place in Saturday's final after the Spaniard beat Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-4.
Best selected
ADELAIDE - Australia has named its 14-strong track cycling team for the London Olympics, spearheaded by sprint queen Anna Meares and team pursuit leader Jack Bobridge. With the team all but selecting itself at April's world track cycling championships in Melbourne, teenager Alex Edmondson secured the only position in doubt, when he was named in the five-man endurance squad. Twelve cyclists will be making their Olympic debut, with Meares and Bobridge the only ones remaining from the 2008 Beijing Games. World omnium champion Glenn O'Shea made it impossible to leave him out of the endurance squad when he won the rainbow jersey in Melbourne. O'Shea will ride the omnium in London, while he and Edmondson, 18, are likely to compete for the fourth position in the team pursuit to join Bobridge, Rohan Dennis and Michael Hepburn. Edmondson is joined by his sister and women's team pursuit rider Annette as the first brother-sister combination to represent Australia in cycling at the Olympic Games. "It's unbelievable, I'm over the moon," Alex said.