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BASEBALL
Cubs to stick with Piniella
The Chicago Cubs picked up their US$4 million option on manager Lou Piniella’s contract for 2010 on Tuesday, a day before the National League Central division champions open the major league playoffs against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 65-year-old Piniella guided the Cubs to a 97-64 record, the best mark in the NL. “I’m thankful and I look forward to a couple more years,” he said. “I should be tired, but as long as I have the passion, why not?” Piniella signed a three-year, US$10 million deal with a club option after the Cubs went 66-96 in 2006 under Dusty Baker. The Cubs have gone 182-141 in two seasons under Piniella, winning consecutive division titles for the first time since 1906-08, which ended with the Cubs’ last World Series title.
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BASEBALL
Cashman stays Yanks’ boss
Brian Cashman will retain his role as general manager and senior vice-president of the New York Yankees until the end of the 2011 season, the team said on Tuesday. This month, the Yankees ended a 13-year streak of playoff appearances and Cashman’s contract was scheduled to expire at the end of next month. Cashman signed a three-year deal for around US$5.5 million in October 2005 and he is expected to receive a similar contract to keep him at the club for another three seasons. New York last missed the post-season in 1993, a year before a strike wiped out the 1994 playoffs.
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BASEBALL
MLB names comeback kids
Pitchers Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians and Brad Lidge of the Philadelphia Phillies were honored as Major League Baseball’s comeback players of the year on Tuesday. Lee went 22-3 with an American League-leading 2.54 ERA. The previous season, he was 5-8 with a 6.29 ERA and was demoted to the minor leagues. “I’ve never seen a season like that,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “From start to finish he was incredible. There were real reasons for it. He worked hard physically to get back.” Lidge was a perfect 41-of-41 in save opportunities as the Phillies’ closer. Last year, he converted just 19 of 27 for the Houston Astros. “I never lost confidence in myself, no matter what the years were like or the results,” Lidge said. “I always felt I was going to come back and pitch to the best of my ability.”
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RUGBY
Japan still wants to host
Japan, which lost out to New Zealand in the running to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup, will bid to stage the sport’s global showpiece in either 2015 or 2019. The Japan Rugby Football Union said late on Tuesday that it sent a letter of intent to the International Rugby Board (IRB) confirming its interest in both tournaments. The Dublin-based IRB will vote on the hosts next July. “We are bidding to host the Rugby World Cup not just for Japan but for Asia,” union chairman Knobby Massimo said in a statement. “Bringing the Rugby World Cup to Japan and Asia will unlock the potential of rugby as a truly global sport.” Australia, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales have lodged their interest in hosting either the 2015 or 2019 tournaments. Rugby’s governing body said in July that it will award the two tournaments at the same time to allow for “better planning” and “longer-term certainty” for the hosts and commercial partners. Last year’s tournament in France had a record profit of £120 million (US$214 million). The 400,000 additional visitors who attended the tournament helped boost the local economy by 4 billion euros (US$5.6 billion), the IRB said.
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