■Basketball
Bulls star breaks leg
Chicago Bulls guard Jay Williams broke his leg in a motorcycle accident on Thursday evening. "He's OK, but to the extent of the leg injury, we don't want to speculate," Bulls spokesman Tim Hallam said. But Williams' father, David, said his son was expected to be in surgery for three or four hours. Jay Williams was at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. A hospital spokeswoman referred all inquiries on Williams to Bulls officials.
■ Boxing
Jauregui stops Trinidad
Javier Jauregui of Mexico stopped Juan Trinidad of Puerto Rico in the fourth round of a scheduled 12-round elimination bout for the IBF lightweight title on Thursday at the Grand Olympic Auditorium. Jauregui floored Trinidad with a double left hook in the fourth round, prompting referee Raul Caiz to stop the fight. Jauregui also sent Trinidad to the canvas twice, once late in the second round and another in the third. Both times Trinidad was saved by the bell.
■ Cricket
Martyn to play one-dayers
The lingering effects of finger surgery have kept Damien Martyn out of the Australian cricket team to play Bangladesh in two tests next month but he has been deemed fit enough to be picked for the one-dayers. Martyn, who missed the West Indies tour after having surgery on a finger broken during the World Cup, wasn't ready for test matches, national selection chairman Trevor Hohns said in a statement. However, Martyn has been included in the 13-man one-day squad for three limited-overs matches in August, although his selection is subject to a fitness test in Cairns ahead of the first match on Aug. 2.
■ Cycling
Casagrande wins third stage
Italy's Francesco Casagrande won the third stage of the Tour de Suisse on Thursday, seizing victory in the final stretch of a grueling 20km climb. Casagrande, a mountain specialist, took 5 hours, 10 minutes, 38 seconds to complete the 205km stage, which wound from Nyon on the shore of Lake Geneva and up the valley of the River Rhone, before climbing to the Alpine resort of Saas Fee. He crossed the line alone after opening his attack 3km from the end. Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg finished second, 13 seconds behind Casagrande, while Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan placed third, 18 seconds behind. Vinokourov retains the leader's yellow jersey, but is only six seconds ahead of Casagrande in the overall tour standings.
■ Soccer
Stabbing appeal overturned
An appeals court yesterday overturned the conviction of a Turkish soccer fan sentenced to 15 years in prison for stabbing two English soccer fans to death and ordered his retrial. The appeals court ruled that Ali Umit Demir, who was imprisoned last year for stabbing Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight in April 2000, should be retried and further investigation carried out into the murders. The court ordered that he remain in jail pending a new trial. Demir had been found guilty of killing both English fans and received seven and a half years for each killing. The court said that Demir's knife had the blood of Speight on it, but it was not clear whether it had the blood of Loftus, which was necessary for the double conviction. It is not clear whether Demir would be retried for both murders.
■ Tennis
Hewitt to play qualifier
Defending men's champion Lleyton Hewitt will play Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the first round of Wimbledon after qualifying ended on Thursday. Top-seeded Hewitt should have little trouble overcoming Karlovic, ranked 203 in the world, and is drawn to meet another qualifier in the second round because of the withdrawal of 1996 champion Richard Krajicek. Eighteen men's qualifiers and 13 women's qualifiers were finalized on Thursday. American James Blake, seeded 22, will play Australian Todd Larkham, Russian Marat Safin is against 318th-ranked Michal Mertinak of Slovakia and 14th-seeded Xavier Malisse will play Cyril Saulnier of France. One American man qualified -- Robert Kendrick, ranked 132 in the world. Kendrick, a 23-year-old native of Fresno, California, reached the first round of Wimbledon last year.
■ Tennis
US Open ups prize money
The singles winners at the US Open in September will each earn US$1 million, the largest paychecks in Grand Slam history. The higher prizes will be part of a general US Tennis Association increase of almost US$1 million, from US$16.17 million last year to US$17.07 million. It also includes a record US$400,000 to the winners of the doubles events. "The increase in prize money to record levels reaffirms our commitment to the top singles and doubles players in the world who make the two weeks of the US Open the showcase event for tennis in the US," USTA president Alan Schwartz said on Thursday. The purse for Wimbledon this year will be about US$15.7 million, with the men's winner getting about US$964,000 and the women's winner nearly US$897,000.
■ Tennis
Krajicek set to retire
Former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek announced his retirement from tennis on Thursday, saying that continuing pain in his right elbow had made it impossible for him to compete at the highest level. At a news conference at the Ordina Open, the 31-year-old said he decided to stop playing tennis for good after a painful exit in the first round of the tournament Tuesday. Despite extensive medical treatment and cortisone shots, he said the pain made it difficult to function in daily life. "I want to have the feeling that I can win," he said, holding back tears. "But if my arm starts to hurt after a few service games, that's not realistic. That's why I've decided to stop. I achieved more and reached higher in the world ranks than I had ever dreamed as a child," he said.
■ Athletics
Freeman takes time off
Olympic 400m champion Cathy Freeman won't compete in any individual events for the next few months as she ponders retirement. The 30-year-old Australian took an extended break after winning the gold medal in Sydney in 2000. She has been beset by minor injuries and personal problems since returning to competition in March last year. "I still plan to compete in the 4-by-100 relay at the World Championships and will be continuing training with this event in mind," Freeman said on Thursday in a statement issued through her agents. "My childhood dream was to win an individual Olympic gold medal and be the best in the world, and since achieving both I have not had the same desire for individual success that I once had."
Agencies
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with