■BASEBALL
Philippines to meet big guns
After winning their first two matches against Pakistan and Hong Kong, the Philippines yesterday drew their third and final Group B preliminary game of the Asian Baseball Championship with Thailand in Taichung 0-0 after 12 innings to win the group and qualify for the competition proper, which features Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. The winner of the championship gains automatic entry to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
■ Baseball
Selig puts trust in 'love'
Baseball fans' love of their sport reduces concerns about the impact of the Mitchell Report on drug use or the fate of Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said on Wednesday. "We've had this steroid cloud, as it's been referred to, for the last four years and every year we break all-time attendance records and we'll do it again next year," Selig told the Reuters Media Summit, adding that the image of the game was important to him. "The game has this amazing hold on people," Selig said. "Even [despite] the negative things." Baseball revenues increased last season from US$5.2 billion to US$6.08 billion, boosted by record 2007 attendances of more than 78 million.
■ Baseball
Yabuta signs with Royals
Japanese reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta agreed to a two-year contract with the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday and will compete for a spot as the primary setup man. The 34-year-old right-hander spent 12 seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Pacific League, a team managed by Trey Hillman before he was hired by the Royals after the season. Yabuta has a 44-59 career record with nine saves and a 4.03 ERA in 343 appearances, including 86 starts. Yabuta was 4-6 with four saves and a 2.73 ERA in 58 relief outings this year. He walked 10 in 62 2-3 innings and struck out 45.
■ Figure Skating
Delobel, Schoenfelder lead
European champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France took the lead in the ice dance event yesterday as the NHK Trophy began to determine the final berths in the Grand Prix final. Delobel and Schoenfelder, who won the French leg of the International Skating Union's Grand Prix series two weeks ago, skated a smooth Argentine Tango to open up lead of more than four points after the compulsory dance. They scored 38.96 points while Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were second with 34.67. In third were Russia's Jana Kohkhlova and Sergei Novitski with 34.23. They beat Delobel and Schoenfelder in the free dance in Paris. Later yesterday the pairs were to skate their short program. The ice dance continues today with the original dance.
■ Athletics
Winners get paid at last
Just weeks before the 2007 Las Vegas Marathon, organizers said they paid out top prizes to last year's winners. On Nov. 21, reigning men's champion Joseph Kahugu received his US$15,000 first-place prize, plus his US$50,000 bonus for winning the event's male-female challenge. Fellow Kenyan Jemima Jelagat received her US$15,000 first-place money as the women's winner in last December's race. Shawn Hellebuyck, the agent for Jelagat, said the process dragged out much longer than she could have imagined. "Forty-five days is a good guesstimate, and if there's drug-testing at the event, then perhaps two months," Hellebuyck said. "And there was no drug testing last year.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put