NMC thrash Thaames

KATHMANDU: Madan Thapa scored a hat-trick as Nepal Medical College (NMC) thrashed Thaames 6-0 in the LACM Inter-college Football Tournament, which has been organised by the Student Council of Little Angels’ College of Management (LACM) here at Lab School ground. Asim Subedi struck twice and Avinash Gurung scored one for NMC. In the other match, hosts LACM and Everest played a 2-2 draw. Utsab Shrestha and Kheman Hang Limbu scored for the hosts, while Sunit Tandukar and Rakesh Lama netted one goal each for Everest. — HNS

U-19 team ousted

KATHMANDU: Kyrgyzstan entered the final round of the AFC U-20 Championship with a 2-0 win over Nepal in the Group F qualifying match in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Nepal had lost the first leg match 0-1 in Kathmandu last week. Sidorenko Pavel put the hosts ahead in the 10th minute capitalising on a sloppy defence, and Anurov Ildar put the issue beyond doubt with an accurate header in the second half. — Agencies

Zidane warns Ballack

BERLIN: Zinedine Zidane has welcomed reports Real Madrid are close to signing Germany captain Michael Ballack from Bayern Munich but the France star has warned he will not surrender the playmaking role lightly. Madrid’s Brazil star Ronaldo claimed on Sunday that Ballack could one day take Zidane’s throne and become a Real Madrid legend but the Frenchman is not ready to step down just yet. “If one player has the quality for Real Madrid it is Michael Ballack,” Zidane said. “However it will be difficult for him to play alongside me.” — AFP

Clarke hits century

SYDNEY: Test discard Michael Clarke scored an unbeaten 107 to steer New South Wales to first innings points over Queensland in their Sheffield Shield cricket match here on Monday. The champions reached third day stumps at 331 for five in reply to Queensland’s 266 after the entire second day’s play was washed out on Sunday. Clarke, dropped for the third Test against the West Indies, hit 13 fours in his 182-ball knock and shared in a 171-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Dominic Thornely, who made 86. — AFP

Riots in Leipzig

LEIPZIG: Just 12 days ahead of hosting the 2006 World Cup final draw the German city of Leipzig has grabbed the headlines for the wrong reasons after hooligans rioted. Eighteen police were injured restoring order after fans rioted following a lower league match between Wurzen and Lokomotive Leipzig on Saturday. “We do not think it will have any knock-on effects for the draw,” Gerd Graus, spokesman for the 2006 WC organising committee, said. Leipzig will also host five matches at the finals. — AFP