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Sports Briefs

■ Squash
Taiwan to host Asia Cup

Taiwan will host the 13th Asia Cup Squash Championship next month as part of the nation's efforts to gain experience in organizing major international sports events, officials at the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports said. The council has been encouraging all sports-related organizations across the nation to seek the right to host international sports events to help Taiwan boost sports exchanges with other countries. The knowledge and experience gained would assist the country in hosting the 2009 World Games and the 2009 Deaflympics, the officials said. The 2009 World Games will take place in Kaohsiung, while the Deaflympics will be held in Taipei. The Taiwan International Marathon 2006 is scheduled to start in Yunlin County on Feb. 28, while at the end of March an international junior tennis championship will be held. Council officials said the events are part of more than 50 sports competitions to be held across the country this year.



■ Olympics

Shaq may participate

Jerry Colangelo, putting together the US basketball team for the 2006 world championships and 2008 Olympics, said Shaquille O'Neal has not ruled out participating. Colangelo, managing director of USA Basketball, spoke to O'Neal on Thursday as part of his meetings with NBA players prior to training camp later this year. "I thought that going in that he had indicated there wasn't much interest and he felt it was time for others to step in," Colangelo said Friday night. "After I spoke with him, he said `Now you've got me rethinking about it.'" "We'll see," Colangelo said. He said that he felt he should speak to O'Neal "out of respect for him." Colangelo also met with O'Neal's Miami teammate Dwyane Wade. "He's one of the up-and-coming young stars of the game," Colangelo said, "and he was very interested." Colangelo is solely responsible for selecting participants in this year's training camp. Players must make a three-year commitment to participate in the camps and exhibition games leading up to the competitions. The shake-up followed the team's bronze medal performance in the Athens Olympics.

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