■ BOXING
Tyson released from jail
Mike Tyson ate sloppy joes and read the mobster epic American Gangster during his 24-hour jail term for a DUI conviction. The former heavyweight champion was released on Wednesday morning, sheriff's officials said. Tyson was held apart from the 1,500 other inmates and in a secluded part of Tent City, an open-air jail. The 41-year-old boxer had faced four years, three months in prison. He pleaded guilty on Sept. 24 to one count of felony cocaine possession and one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence.
■ BASEBALL
LA Angels sign Hunter
The Los Angeles Angels reached a preliminary agreement on Wednesday to sign free-agent outfielder Torii Hunter to a five-year contract thought to be worth at least US$80 million. The agreement is subject to a physical. "They play the game the right way," Hunter said. "They play hard-nosed baseball." The 32-year-old, who would protect Vladimir Guerrero in the batting order, hit .297 with 28 homers and 107 RBIs for Minnesota last season. The center fielder is a seven-time Gold Glove winner. "Not only is he an outstanding ballplayer but he's also an outstanding human being. He'll impact our ballclub and community in a very positive way," new Angels general manager Tony Reagins said.
■ SOCCER
Wigan delay presentation
Steve Bruce's presentation as the new Wigan Athletic manager has been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, the Premier League strugglers said on Wednesday. Bruce, who left his post as Birmingham City manager to take up the job at the JJB Stadium, had been due to be unveiled on Wednesday. But Wigan chief executive Brenda Spencer said the move had been put on hold because of "an issue between Birmingham and Steve."
■ SOCCER
Stadium strike resolved
Construction workers at one of the stadiums to host the 2010 World Cup in South Africa returned to work after their dispute was resolved with the employers, officials said. "The Mbombela Stadium Joint Venture, the stadium contractors and union representatives met on Wednesday and resolved a labor dispute that developed earlier that morning," 2010 provincial head, Desmond Golding, said in a statement. More than 1,000 workers building a new stadium in the northeastern city of Nelspruit had downed tools in a dispute over pay and working conditions just two days after a similar strike at a stadium in the eastern city of Durban was called off.
■ SOCCER
Lippi rejects Blues offer
Italy's World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi has rejected an offer to replace Steve Bruce as manager of Birmingham City. Blues co-owner David Sullivan had said the club would bring in a top foreign coach in the wake of Bruce's departure to Wigan Athletic. Sullivan confirmed on Wednesday the club had approached Lippi, who enjoyed great success at club level with Juventus before leading Italy to soccer's ultimate prize last year, but said the Italian turned his offer down. "We made an approach and Lippi turned it down. This is not a stunt. It's genuine. He is available at the moment and we are looking at bringing in a manager of his stature and calibre, if at all possible," Sullivan told the Birmingham Mail.
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