Dhungana wins

KATHMANDU: Suraj Dhungana won the New Year Cup Badminton Tournament organised by Srijansil Youth Club. Dhungana beat Subrat Acharya in the 16-30 age group. Min Bahadur Bhandari finished third. Tara Pradhan claimed the above 30yrs title while Bhawani Shrestha and Krishna Prashad Mishra were the first and second runners up respectively. Likewise, Roma Bhandari clinched the U-16 title and Samir Gurung was declared an emerging player. — HNS

‘Ribery can leave’

PARIS: Marseille president Pape Diouf sparked an expected transfer scramble on Friday when he admitted that star winger Franck Ribery has a green light to leave the French club at the end of the season. Diouf fought hard to keep Ribery at the 1993 European Cup winners last year, despite strong interest from the likes of Lyon, Real Madrid and Arsenal. But now he seems resigned to the France player’s imminent exit. Diouf also said no decision had been made on whether or not to exercise an option to buy on-loan Liverpool forward Djibril Cisse at the end of the season. — AFP

Hiddink denies link

London: Russia coach Guus Hiddink has denied claims he will take over from Jose Mourinho as Chelsea boss next season. Hiddink said he was fully focussed on guiding Russia to Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Speculation has been rife this season that Portuguese boss Mourinho has fallen out with Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich. — AFP