■ Athletics
Chicago marathon too far
Any marathon is a grueling test of physical and mental endurance, but Chicago's Lakeshore Marathon was extra tough this year: The course was inadvertently set a mile (1.6km) too long. More than 500 runners finished last Monday's race, running 27.2 miles (43.7km) instead of the standard 26.2 (42.1km). The long layout of the marathon, as well as problems such as missing mile markers and unstaffed aid stations, led some runners to urge the city to stop issuing permits for the Lakeshore Marathon until it's under new management. Race founder and organizer Mark Cihlar issued an apology on www.marathonguide.com on Thursday. Last-minute changes "caused us to miscalculate and we foolishly added an extra mile -- how terrible!" he wrote in a memo to race participants. Cihlar, who has had sole responsibility for 90 percent of the marathon's planning for the past four years, said he plans to relinquish control over event coordination, and is seeking qualified directors and coordinators to help on the 2006 race.
■ Hockey
Ray of hope for NHL
The NHL and players' association made some progress in nearly 34 hours of negotiations over three days and will continue to talk, league vice president Bill Daly said Friday. The sides met for almost 14 hours on Friday after 10-hour sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, trying to work out a new collective bargaining agreement. The league and union said they will meet again next week. "We continued our discussions on financial and accounting issues, and while we are making progress, we still have a lot of work to do," Daly said.
■ Rugby
Lions roar in Wellington
The British and Irish Lions made an unimpressive start to their 11-match rugby tour of New Zealand in Wellington yesterday, struggling to a 34-20 win over Bay of Plenty at Rotorua and losing veteran No. 8 Lawrence Dallaglio to an injury. After an explosive beginning in which they scored 17 points in 10 minutes, including two tries to fullback Josh Lewsey, Clive Woodward's Lions slumped to leave the match tied 17-17 at halftime. A try to Tom Shanklin at the start of the second half and two more in the last 10 minutes expanded the Lions' margin.
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