■ Olympics
Beijing touts `safe' Games
Beijing's already tight security will be stepped up for the 2008 Olympics with paramilitary troops, electronic surveillance and even taxi drivers lending a hand. Security will play "an overarching role" at the games, the official China Daily newspaper said. "We do not want to turn Beijing into a fortress, but a place with an auspicious and peaceful atmosphere that will make athletes, coaches and visitors feel relaxed and safe," Qiang Wei, the city's deputy Communist Party secretary, was quoted as saying. The effort will involve police, soldiers and paramilitary troops, as well as other city workers including bus, subway and taxi drivers, Qiang said. The government says it wants to prevent terror attacks, but security in the capital already is tight in order to prevent any public dissent against communist rule. Chinese authorities will also adopt tactics used last year at the Olympics in Athens, which had "a vast computer surveillance network with thousands of hidden cameras and microphones that analyzed dozens of languages," the paper said.
■ Soccer
China slashes ticket prices
Hoping to build support after a disastrous first season, teams in China's troubled Super League are giving heavy discounts on season tickets while offering fans more chances to interact with players. International Shanghai, one of three Super League teams in China's financial hub, slashed season tickets by half to just 50 yuan (US$6) while newly promoted cross-town rivals, Shanghai Zonbon, are charging just 60 yuan. International launched the new ticket prices this week with a fiesta outside its stadium featuring players singing karaoke and greeting fans.
■ Sumo
Wrestling in pants prohibited
A tussle has broken out in Japan's tradition-bound sumo world over the right to wear pants in the ring. Gargantuan sumo wrestlers generally compete naked but for a "mawashi," an arrangement of wrapped cloth that preserves a bare minimum of modesty. Sumo's amateur association hit upon the idea of allowing shy youngsters to wear "sumo pants," a more substantial garment similar to cycling shorts, to try to boost the dwindling numbers of children taking up the sport, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun said on Thursday. "Pubescent kids are not going to want to take part if they don't look cool," Yomiuri quoted one local amateur sumo official as saying. The sport's professional body, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai, however, has made clear that it will not allow wrestlers in pants to take part in youth tournaments, the paper said.
■ Tennis
Williamses write advice book
Serena and Venus Williams have written a book with advice for pre-teens on such subjects as money and dating. Regarding the latter, their recommendation: Don't rush a crush. "We both really have a lot to say about that," Venus said on Wednesday with a laugh. Titled Venus and Serena: Serving From the Hip: 10 rules for Living, Loving and Winning, the book is targeted at 9-to-12 year olds. "It's a great book for teenage girls who deal with different issues," Serena said. "Growing up, I would have loved to have had such a positive role model to look up to and try to be like and try to emulate. We love having that opportunity to say, `Look, you can be like us, you can be successful and at the same time have high morals and high self esteem and be a very nice person at the end of the day.'" The sisters, who are in Key Biscayne for the Nasdaq-100 Open, wrote the book with Hilary Beard.
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