ABF LISTS RIVERA NO. 52 IN ASIA
Former world champion Biboy Rivera is the only Filipino kegler in the Top 100 Asian players of the Asian Bowling Federation (ABF). He placed 52nd with 68 points while Yousif Falah of Bahrain took the No. 1 position with 610 points. EMIL C. NOGUERA

VALLE, GONZALES TO TRAIN IN CHINA PRIOR SEAG
VETERAN Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) players Rodel Valle and Richard Gonzales are expected to train somewhere in China this year as part of their foreign exposure before they compete in SEA Games in December in Myanmar. Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP) President Ting Ledesma told The Manila Times Monday that the series of tryouts for men and women and junior national team will commence beginning this January. “Richard and Rodel among with other aspiring national athletes will most likely make it in the tryouts to be conducted by our national coaches. They will train in China prior to SEA Games,” said Ledesma, a former national team player. JOSEF T. RAMOS

I’M NOT RETIRING ANY TIME SOON, SAYS FERGIE
LONDON: Alex Ferguson has quashed retirement talk by revealing he has no plans to step down as Manchester United manager in the near future. Ferguson, who turned 71 on Monday, has been forced to deal with questions about his retirement plans since the time he reversed his decision to leave the club in 2002. With Pep Guardiola due to end his post-Barcelona sabbatical in a few months, Jose Mourinho tipped to leave Real Madrid and David Moyes’ Everton contract close to expiring, three of the main candidates to replace Ferguson could be available at the end of the season, prompting a new round of speculation about the Scot’s future. But Ferguson, who has been in charge at Old Trafford since 1986, marked the new year by making it clear he won’t be leaving United for some while. AFP

JIMENEZ BREAKS LEG SKIING
MADRID: Popular Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez has broken a leg skiing and will be out of action for up to five months, a European golf spokeswoman said on Sunday. “Miguel Angel Jimenez underwent an operation yesterday and he will not be able to play again for about five months due to a serious injury to his right leg,” said Maria Acacia Lopez-Bachillez in a press release. The injury to the 48-year-old Ryder Cup star happened when he fell during a skiing outing in the Sierra Nevada range of Andalucia in southern Spain He broke his tibia just below the knee and was taken immediately to a hospital in Malaga, where the operation was carried out with success. AFP

ARGENTINA’S DEL POTRO IN DAVIS CUP SPAT
BUENOS AIRES: Argentine No. 1 Juan Martin del Potro he will not play Davis Cup this coming season. Skipper Martin Jaite had said that del Potro would not be facing Germany in his country’s World Group opener from February 1-3. Jaite insisted at the time that “the doors of the team are always open to him.” However, del Potro closed the door on a 2013 appearance, saying he had found out from the media he would not face Germany and acted accordingly. Argentine hopes now rest squarely on the shoulders of world number 12 Juan Monaco as the four-times finalists look to see off the Germans in Buenos Aires. AFP