■TAIWAN
PRC medalists on the way?
The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee is expected to sign an agreement with its Chinese counterpart within a week to allow Chinese Olympic medalists from the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games to compete in Taiwan next year, a senior committee official in Taipei disclosed on Tuesday. Chen Kuo-yi (陳國儀), secretary-general of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, said that committee chairman Tsai Chen-wei (蔡辰威) is expected to sign an agreement on the arrangement with Yu Zaiqing (于再清), vice president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, who is leading a Chinese delegation on a visit to Taiwan. Yu served as executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for this year’s Summer Olympic Games. Chen said that no decisions have been made on who among the top Chinese athletes will be invited to compete in Taiwan next year.
■SOCCER
Star accused of robbery
Boca Juniors striker Lucas Viatri, one of the revelations of the Argentine season, is to face court proceedings over allegations that he robbed a hairdresser, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Arturo Olcese said that Viatri, who allegedly stole a pair of scissors and hairspray along with his brother and a friend, has been accused of robbery aggravated by the possession of weapons. Olcese denied the charges against Viatri, who has scored six goals for Boca in the Apertura championship including the winner in the derby against arch-rivals River Plate. “There’s no case against him, there’s no evidence which incriminates him,” Olcese said. Viatri was held in custody for one month earlier this year during preliminary investigations and the judge has now ruled that he must face an oral trial before a panel of judges. After being released, he was given his chance in the Boca first team. “He was training at the time, that’s the truth,” said Viatri’s agent Cristian Traverso. “He couldn’t be in two places at once.”
■GOLF
Seve out of intensive care
Five-time major winner Seve Ballesteros was released from intensive care but remained in hospital on Tuesday to recuperate from brain surgery on a malignant tumor. Madrid’s La Paz Hospital said in a statement it remained cautious over releasing a time frame for his exit after three surgeries in 18 days, saying only that the healing “process is slow” and that Ballesteros would remain in the hospital for some time. Restricted visits were being allowed for the first time. The 51-year-old Spanish golf great underwent an operation on Oct. 24 to remove the brain tumor and reduce swelling around the brain.
■BASEBALL
Ripken clinic cut short
Program sponsors cut short a clinic being taught by Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr for Nicaraguan youth on Tuesday because of protests surrounding disputed local elections. Ripken and Nicaraguan native Dennis Martinez were expected to take their baseball clinic to Leon this week for a one-day class. Since last week, the two former major leaguers have provided baseball instruction to 300 children and 60 youth coaches in Managua and Granada. Ripken and Martinez played together on the Baltimore Orioles. But the program sponsors decided to cancel the last day of Ripken’s tour because protests were blocking major roads in Leon and they were concerned parents and the youths would not be able to attend, US embassy spokeswoman Kristin Stewart said.
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