■ Olympics
Hu invites Bush to ceremony
Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) has invited US President George W. Bush to attend the opening ceremony of next year's Beijing Olympics, a news report said yesterday. Beijing also hopes to host a summit between Bush and Hu during the visit if he accepts the invitation, the South China Morning Post reported, citing unidentified diplomats. "Beijing has sought a state visit by the leader of the world's only superpower to coincide with the Games, which would give a great boost to the staging of the most important global event ever hosted in China," the daily quoted a diplomat who declined to be named as saying.
■ Soccer
Getafe crushes Barcelona
Getafe crushed Spanish league leaders Barcelona 4-0 on Thursday night to advance to a Spanish Cup final showdown with Sevilla on June 23. Getafe lost 5-2 in the semi-final, first-leg tie at the Nou Camp, but overcame their three-goal deficit to advance 6-5 on aggregate. Sevilla, who are still on course for a treble of titles, beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 on Wednesday night to qualify 5-0 on aggregate. Getafe, a side from the suburbs of Madrid, ran rings around a lethargic Barcelona whose stars Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho looked content to sit back on their advantage. Francesco Casquero opened for Getafe after 37 minutes with Dani Guiza scoring the first of his double two minutes before the break.
■ Baseball
Arizona player arrested
Arizona Diamondbacks rookie infielder Alberto Callaspo was arrested on Thursday in Phoenix, Arizona, on charges of assaulting his wife. Venezuelan-born Callaspo, 24, was taken into custody on suspicion of assault and criminal damage, police said. He still was being interviewed by detectives late on Thursday. Police officers responded to a call at Callaspo's home about noon on Thursday and said the player's 22-year-old wife, Marianny Paola, had minor injuries. Callaspo did not accompany the team on its flight to Houston, where the Diamondbacks where scheduled to start a nine-game road trip yesterday.
■ Hockey
Players' union fires director
The NHL Players' Association fired executive director Ted Saskin on Thursday, two months after placing him on a paid leave of absence following allegations that he and senior director Ken Kim read players' e-mail. The union's executive board, made up of 30 player representatives and the six-member interim executive committee, voted to fire Saskin on a conference call. "All I am going to say at this time is that I remain proud of all the work I did for NHL players over the last 16 years and particularly in negotiating the new CBA [collective bargaining agreement], which has been working out well," Saskin said.
■ Soccer
Rincon arrested in Brazil
Former Colombian soccer player Freddy Rincon has been arrested in Sao Paulo by federal police at the behest of Panamanian authorities as part of a probe into international drug trafficking and money laundering. According to the Globo Web site, the 39-year-old former Real Madrid and Corinthians player was arrested at his house and taken to federal police headquarters pending a legal decision on an extradition request. Rincon is accused of laundering money coming from an international drug trafficking organization headed by fellow Colombian Pablo Rayo Montano.
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
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