London Mayor BORIS JOHNSON "knocked over a 10-year old child" during a game of touch rugby in Japan. Johnson "took out the child in the non-contact game as he raced down a mini turf pitch in Tokyo." TOKI SEKIGUCHI hit the ground and said he "felt a little pain." The mayor went over and "asked if he was all right before shaking his hand and saying sorry" (BBC, 10/15). ... One of India's most successful bowlers, ZAHEER KHAN, announced his retirement from int'l cricket on Thursday but "says he will continue to play the domestic Twenty20 form of the game for one more season." Khan last played for his country "in a test match in New Zealand in February last year" (REUTERS, 10/15). ... OSCAR PISTORIUS will be released on parole on Oct. 20, "about a year into his five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend REEVA STEENKAMP, authorities said." The department of correctional services said in a statement on Thursday that "the Olympic and Paralympic track star would be placed under house arrest from Tuesday." Pistorius was "due to have been freed on parole in August after serving 10 months" but Justice Minister MICHAEL MASUTHA blocked his release, "saying the parole hearing had been held prematurely" (REUTERS, 10/15). ... SARAH TAYLOR will make history, "becoming the first woman to play a men's A grade match in Australia." Northern Districts Cricket Club selected Taylor for "its season-opening two-day competition game against Port Adelaide at Salisbury Oval." No woman "has ever played in SA's elite men's competition" since it began in 1897 and "it is believed no female has done so in any other states, except for one in Twenty20s" (ADVERTISER, 10/15).
