■ Baseball
Hsieh comments on IOC
Premier Frank Hsieh said Friday that although baseball and softball have been eliminated from the Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Taiwan should not be discouraged. The premier made the remarks after the IOC made the decision during a special vote in Singapore on all 28 sports that make up the Olympic program. The decision will affect the 2012 Games just awarded to London. Hsieh said that it is a bit disappointing to learn that baseball and softball, in which Taiwan excels, will no longer be part of the Olympics, but he said that there are more than 10 sports that Taiwan has unlimited room for development. Chen Chuan-shou, chairman of the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, also said that the development of baseball will not be affected by the IOC's decision.
■ Basketball
Stotts to coach the Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks hired former assistant Terry Stotts as their new head coach on Friday. Stotts, an assistant with the Golden State Warriors last season, coached the Atlanta Hawks for 1 seasons. He went 52-85 in Atlanta after replacing Lon Kruger in 2002-2003. He also served under George Karl as an assistant for four seasons in Milwaukee. Stotts replaces Terry Porter, who was unexpectedly fired on June 22, days before the Bucks selected Australian Andrew Bogut with the top pick in the NBA draft. General manager Larry Harris said at the time that he wanted an experienced coach, and attention immediately focused on Flip Saunders and Doug Collins. Collins withdrew his name from consideration to stay in his television analyst job, and Saunders, who is due US$5.5 million from the Minnesota Timberwolves next season, apparently is waiting to see what happens with Larry Brown in Detroit
■ Auto Racing
Sperafico replaces Bremer
Ronnie Bremer was replaced by Brazilian driver Alex Sperafico in the HVM team on Friday despite finishing in the top 10 in three of his five Champ Car World Series races. Bremer couldn't produce any sponsorship money. Sperafico has competed in 10 Champ Car events, and earned his first top-10 finish at last year's Grand Prix of Toronto. His cousin, Ricardo, drives for the Dale Coyne team. "This is a fantastic opportunity for me," Sperafico said. "HVM is known for their professionalism, they consistently prepare fast and reliable race cars, and I am honored and excited to represent them in the Champ Car World Series. This is the best opportunity I have had in my professional racing career and I intend to maximize this chance."
■ Olympics
IOC elects new officials
Members from Greece and Japan won elections in Singapore on Saturday to become vice presidents of the International Olympic Committee, while Singapore's delegate made it onto the executive board. In a surprise, Greece's Lambis Nikolaou defeated senior Australian member Kevan Gosper in the final round 49-45 to win one of the four VP spots on the final day of the IOC's session in Singapore. Nikolaou's victory was seen as a gesture of gratitude for Greece's highly successful staging of the 2004 Olympics. "I'm overwhelmed," Nikolaou said, choking back tears. "This an honor for my country, Greece, which held exceptional games. We managed to produce dream games."
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was