■ Swimming
Phelps caught driving drunk
Michael Phelps, the American swimming phenomenon who won six gold medals at the Athens Olympics, has been arrested and charged with drunk driving. Police said Phelps, 19, was arrested last week in Salisbury, Maryland, after running a stop sign and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drinking under the legal age of 21. "I made a mistake," Phelps said Monday night. "Getting into a car with anything to drink is wrong, dangerous and unacceptable. I'm 19, but no matter how old you are, you should take responsibility for your actions, which I will do. I'm extremely sorry." If convicted of the charge of driving under the influence, Phelps faces a year in jail and a US$1,000 fine. Phelps, who also won two bronze medals this summer in Athens, returned home to multimillion-dollar endorsement deals for numerous companies, which his arrest might put in jeopardy.
■ Soccer
Greece players vie for award
Six Greek players have been named in an initial list of 50 for the European Footballer of the Year award, sports daily L'Equipe reported on its Web site on Monday. Traianos Dellas, Angelos Charisteas, Michalis Kapsis, Antonis Nikopolidis, Yourkas Seitaridis and Theodoros Zagorakis are in line for the prestigious continental award after Greece made history with their Euro 2004 triumph in Portugal in June. Six French players, including Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane and the Arsenal duo Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, are also in the running for the award, along with seven Brazilians. The winner of the Golden Ball as the European Footballer of the Year is decided by a poll of European soccer journalists from 52 countries.
■ Golf
China to host Johnnie Walker
China will host the US$2.3 million Johnnie Walker Classic next year, organizers announced on Tuesday, the richest golf tournament ever to be staged in the world's most populous nation. The prestigious tri-sanctioned event featuring the best players from the European, Asian and Australasian tours will be staged at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Pine Valley Course in Beijing from April 21 to April 24. It is the first time in the 14-year history of one of Asia's biggest golf tournaments that the event has been held in China. The Johnnie Walker was first staged in Hong Kong in 1990. Over the past 14 years, the event has been played in eight different Asian cities on over 10 different golf courses. Past winners of the event include some of the best known names in international golf, with Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo and Greg Norman all getting their names on the trophy.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set