■ Soccer
Beckham to extend contract
David Beckham will sign a two-year contract extension keeping him at Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid until 2009, sports daily Marca reported yesterday. Beckham's new deal, which would take him up to age of 34, will be rubber-stamped next month following initial talks with Madrid president Florentino Perez at the end of last season, the paper said. "My family have played a big part of my decision to continue after 2007. We're really happy here and I want to win titles with Real Madrid," the paper quoted Beckham as saying. "I'm playing in the best club in the world and my wish is to keep wearing the shirt in the future." Beckham, whose global fame has been credited with boosting Madrid's finances, has displayed patchy form since joining Madrid from Manchester United on a five-year contract in 2002 and has been reported at various times to be considering a move back to England.
■ NBA
Ray Allen stays in Seattle
Ray Allen, one of the National Basketball Association's top free agents this season, is staying in Seattle, re-signing on Wednesday with the SuperSonics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but ESPN.com reported last month that it was a five-year contract that worth up 85 million dollars including performance bonuses. Allen couldn't sign the deal until the league's player movement moratorium was lifted on Tuesday. "We're absolutely thrilled to welcome Ray back to our team," Seattle general manager Rick Sund said. "He's a proven All-Star and one of the top players in the NBA. He's been a tremendous asset for the Sonics, both on and off the court," he said.
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