■ Hockey
Robitaille moves to Kings
Free agent Luc Robitaille signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, as he returns for a third stint with the NHL team. Robitaille is the highest-scoring left winger in hockey history with 631 career goals. He played the last two seasons for the Detroit Red Wings. But the 37-year-old scored just 11 goals and 20 points with the Red Wings last season, after a 30-goal effort during Detroit's Stanley Cup season in 2001.
■ Basketball
Kidd re-signs with Nets
The New Jersey Nets made an official announcement on Thursday that free agent guard Jason Kidd had re-signed to a multi-year contract. Kidd had visited the San Antonio Spurs, but the Nets said on July 11 that he would stay with the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions. That statement was ratified by Thursday's announcement. The team did not release contract details, but reports have the deal being for six years worth between US$99 and US$103 million. "We are obviously delighted to re-sign Jason to a long-term contract," Nets president Rod Thorn said.
■ Soccer
Newcastle reign in Asia
Goals from captain Alan Shearer and Shola Ameobi gave Newcastle United 2-1 win over 10-man Birmingham City in Thursday's opening game of the Football Association Premier League (FAPL) Asia Cup. Shearer converted a penalty in the 37th minute after City's Ireland defender Kenny Cunningham was dismissed -- and now faces a suspension -- for having felled Wales forward Craig Bellamy in the box. Birmingham's goal also came from a penalty, converted by substitute Paul Devlin in the 73rd minute, just two minutes before substitute Ameobi's header booked his side into Sunday's final against either Chelsea or Malaysia's national side.
■ Golf
Langer gets Ryder charge
Bernhard Langer was Thursday named as captain of the European Ryder Cup team that will defend the trophy against the US in Michigan next year. The highly respected German, 45, succeeds Sam Torrance. Last year, Torrance led Europe to victory by 15-1/2 points to 12-1/2 at The Belfry but did not want to be considered again. "It's a fabulous honor to be named European captain," Langer said. "I've never made a secret of how much I enjoy being part of the Ryder Cup, and to be captain makes me very proud, especially as the first German golfer to hold this prestigious honor." The Ryder Cup is scheduled for Sept.17 to Sept. 19 at Oakland Hills, Michigan. The US team will be captained by Hal Sutton.
■ Athletics
Mom wins Death Valley race
A 42-year-old mother from Arizona won a 217km, 28-hour-plus ultramarathon in temperatures that reached 51?C. Pam Reed defended her title on Wednesday in a race that begins at the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and ends halfway up 4,348m Mount Whitney -- the highest point in the contiguous US. Reed finished the ultramarathon in 28 hours, 26 minutes and 52 seconds -- ahead of the first male finisher. "God was very good to us today -- we had less sun," Reed said. Dean Karnazes, 40, finished first among men in 28:51.26. "It was as close to hell as I ever want to get," said Karnazes, of San Francisco.
■ Motor racing
Jaguar hunt driver
Jaguar are still looking for a Formula One test and reserve driver after Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia rejected the offer, team bosses said on Thursday. Rookie Pizzonia was replaced as a regular race driver by Briton Justin Wilson this week after a disappointing 11 starts without a point. He turned down a reserve role. Jaguar managing director David Pitchforth said the door was still open for the 22-year-old but Jaguar was looking for someone to fill the role.
■ Soccer
Mexico joins Brazil in finals
Rafael Marquez banged in a 45m strike on Thursday to give Mexico a 2-0 win over Costa Rica and secure a CONCACAF Gold Cup finals berth. Mexico will play Brazil in the final tomorrow. Brazil advanced on Wednesday with a 2-1 overtime victory against the US in Miami. Because Brazil is an invited guest to this tournament, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean, Thursday's win earned Mexico a berth in the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany. Costa Rica earned a shocking 2-1 victory over Mexico in the qualifying rounds for last year's World Cup.
■ Basketball
China denies Yao injury
China's basketball association yesterday denied reports that Houston Rockets center Yao Ming broke a bone during practice with his homeland's national team, saying he suffered only a cut eyebrow. "It's just a cut," said Xu Minfeng, a spokesman for the association. "The bone was not broken." State newspapers on Wednesday quoted a doctor for the Chinese team as saying the 22-year-old Yao suffered "some fractures" in a bone above his left eye in a collision this week with another player. The doctor said Yao would need a week to recuperate.
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
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
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