■ NHL
Islanders sign Kozlov
The New York Islanders signed Viktor Kozlov to a one-year, US$865,000 contract on Wednesday. The Russian international forward had 12 goals and 13 assists in 69 NHL games with New Jersey last season. "Viktor brings a lot to the table," Islanders general manager Garth Snow said. "He can be a center or wing on any of our top three lines and be solid in all zones. This is an excellent addition for our team as we head into training camp." The Islanders open camp this week in Nova Scotia. Kozlov, who also had stints with San Jose and Florida, scored 144 goals and set up 247 others in 668 NHL regular-season games. The 31-year-old center-right winger was chosen by San Jose with the sixth pick in the 1993 draft. He helped Russia to fourth at the Turin Olympics. The Islanders also announced that South Korean forward Richard Park will attend training camp on a tryout basis.
■ Basketball
US hammers Nigeria
DeLisha Milton-Jones scored 13 points and the two-time defending champion US hammered Nigeria 79-46 at the women's basketball world championship in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday. Australia's Lauren Jackson scored 31 points in a 95-55 win against Senegal, and Gisella Vega scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Argentina over Spain 77-65. Iziane Castro Marques hit 21 points and was joined by three teammates in double figures as Brazil defeated South Korea 100-86. Sadrine Gruda had 22 points to lead France over Taiwan 100-68, and Russia downed China 86-66. Eva Viteck scored 19 points for the Czech Republic to top Cuba 73-51, and Jurgita Streimikyte picked up 21 points while Lithuania downed Canada 84-58. Argentina also featured Erica Sanchez with 15 points and Veronica Soberon's 11. Spain was hampered by the early of Amaya Valdemoro, who after scoring 17 in Tuesday's win over South Korea, played only three minutes because of a pulled calf muscle.
■ Soccer
Riquelme retires
Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme has announced his retirement from international soccer. The 28-year-old midfielder told Buenos Aires television channel 13 that he had reached the decision because of the constant criticism that he faced and the health of his mother. "I've decided not to be part of the national team from now on. I have to think about my mother's health, so it was an easy decision because of that, but painful. I can take criticism, but my family comes before football," said Riquelme who has been constantly criticized by the media since Argentina's quarter-final defeat against Germany at the World Cup. His mother has twice been admitted to hospital since the World Cup. The Villarreal player said he had informed national team coach Alfio Basile of his decision, adding that his decision would be final and he would not come back. The former Argentine captain played his first international under coach Daniel Passarella in 1997. He scored eight goals in 37 internationals.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier