MOTORCYCLING

Superbike series' Beijing beginning

The China Superbike Championship (CSBK) will roar off in May in Beijing, it was announced on Friday.

The four-stop series will also feature races in Ordos (July) in Inner Mongolia, and Shaoxing (September) and Ningbo (October), both in Zhejiang province.

Beijing Feigan Sports Event Management Co Ltd has won the rights to host the championship for the next five years.

Categories include SSP (600cc and below), SSO (600cc open) and SBK (1,000cc open).

Each round is expected to attract more than 60 riders from home and overseas.

ALPINE SKIING

Shiffrin made to wait for world title

US star Mikaela Shiffrin was kept waiting for the overall women's World Cup crown by the slimmest of margins on Thursday after Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather captured the World Cup Super-G title.

Weirather overtook Super-G points leader Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia by winning the campaign's final race in 1:11.66 with Stuhec second, .35 of a second behind but edging Italy's Federica Brignone by .01 to barely sustain her overall title hopes.

Shiffrin, with 11 World Cup victories this season, now leads Stuhec 1,523-1,325 with two races and 200 possible points remaining from the World Cup Final at Aspen.

SOCCER

England ax falls on Rooney

Wayne Rooney is no longer guaranteed a place in every England squad, manager Gareth Southgate said on Thursday.

Rooney was left out of the 26-man squad announced by Southgate for next week's friendly against Germany in Dortmund and the World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley.

Routinely selected by England for the past 14 years, Rooney has lost his starting place at Manchester United, and Southgate hinted he is planning for life without the 31-year-old.

"You can't always have that parachute or life-jacket of having these senior players around," said Southgate, who recalled 34-year-old Jermain Defoe and added uncapped duo Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse.

Female first for Italian team

In a soccer first, a woman will coach a men's team in Italy when former player Patrizia Panico takes the helm of the national under-16 team.

Rated Italy's best female player, Panico is the assistant for the under-16s but head coach Daniele Zoratto is set to temporarily take over the under-19 side, propeling her into the top post for a spell.

"There are many walls still to break down, but this will help them fall," said the 42-year-old Panico of the daily barriers women face in Italy.

"To be the first woman to coach a male side is a huge success for me."

Panico scored 110 goals in 204 games for her country.

NFL

Falcons swoop for pedigree Poe

The Atlanta Falcons agreed terms with two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dontari Poe on Thursday.

The team did not disclose the terms for the 26-year-old, but Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported it is a one-year deal worth up to $8 million, with incentives boosting the total to $10 million.

Poe, who was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2013 and 2014, recorded 27 tackles, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble in 16 games for the Kansas City Chiefs last season.

China Daily-Agencies