■ Surfing
`Twiggy' rules at Mavericks
South African Grant "Twiggy" Baker scored perfect 10s navigating near 12m waves and won the Mavericks surf contest at Half Moon Bay, California on Tuesday. Baker, 32, entered the contest as a special add on. Online voters decided that he deserved a crack at the big waves -- and he responded by scoring a perfect 10 on two rides in front of thousands. "I never thought this was possible," Baker said after winning US$30,000 and a trophy. "For someone from South Africa, this is an impossible dream." Baker's first perfect score from the judges came in the third heat of round one. Each heat pitted six surfers against each other, with the top three moving on to the next round. Baker deftly sliced down a large wave, and then stylishly steered clear of the crush of whitewater that followed him close behind.
PHOTO: AP
■ Athletics
Dold takes Empire run
Germany's Thomas Dold edged defending men's champion Rudolf Reitberger of Austria by 17 seconds on Tuesday to win the annual Empire State Building Run-up, climbing 86 floors in 10 minutes, 19 seconds. Meanwhile, Andrea Mayr of Austria set a women's record, winning for the third straight year in 11 minutes, 23 seconds. The 34-year-old Reitberger was by about 2 1/2 floors behind 21-year-old Dold, finishing in a time of 10:36. "I knew after about 65 or 70 floors that I would be second," Reitberger said.
■ Baseball
Saito works with Dodgers
Japanese pitcher Takashi Saito agreed to a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday and was invited to spring training. The 35-year-old right-hander spent most of his 14-year career with Yokohama Baystars in Japan's Central League. He compiled an 87-78 record with 48 saves and was a four-time Japan All-Star. Saito was named comeback player of the year in 1998, when he went 13-5 with a 2.94 ERA after sitting out all of the prior year with an injury. He was later converted to a closer and earned 47 saves between 2001 and 2002.
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