■BASEBALL
Giambi returns to A’s
Jason Giambi is returning for a second spell with the Oakland Athletics after agreeing a one-year contract, the team said on its web site on Wednesday. Giambi, who turned 38 yesterday, spent the first seven years of his career with the A’s before signing with the New York Yankees as a free agent following the 2001 season. Terms of the deal were not announced but the San Francisco Chronicle said Giambi’s deal was for US$4 million, with a club option next year for US$5.5 million. The 2000 American League MVP hit 32 home runs and had 96 runs batted in for the Yankees last season.
■HOCKEY
NHL puts the bite on Ruutu
Ottawa Senators left wing Jarkko Ruutu of Finland was suspended for two games without pay by the National Hockey League on Wednesday, one day after biting Buffalo rival Andrew Peters. The biting incident came during an altercation in the first period of a 4-2 Buffalo Sabres home victory on Tuesday. Ruutu appeared to bite the right thumb of Peters, who was wearing his glove. The bite pulled the glove off Peters’ hand and the Sabre grabbed his thumb in pain and skated away to complain to officials. Ruutu denied biting Peters after the game but television replays of the incident were enough to prompt action from the NHL, banning Ruutu from Ottawa’s game yesterday at Boston and tomorrow against the New York Rangers.
■FOOTBALL
Cowboys send Jones packing
The Dallas Cowboys released troubled cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones on Wednesday, ending a tumultuous season marred by controversy, injuries and a six-game suspension. Jones’ departure ends an unsuccessful reclamation project by the Cowboys, who acquired him from the Tennessee Titans after he was suspended by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for the entire 2007 season following repeated violations of the league conduct policies and brushes with the police. Trouble followed Jones to Dallas, Goodell slapping him with a six-game ban following an alcohol-related altercation with one of his bodyguards at a Dallas hotel. In his first game back, Jones sustained a herniated disk in his neck playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He only returned for the final two games of the regular season. Jones has been arrested six times since the Titans made him the sixth overall selection in the 2005 draft.
■FOOTBALL
Yale appoint first black coach
Tom Williams, a Jacksonville Jaguars defensive assistant coach, was named coach on Wednesday at Yale, becoming the first black coach in the university’s 137-year football history. Williams, 39, added his name to the Ivy League school’s landmark legacy. “I am thrilled for this tremendous opportunity to be the head football coach at such a historic and fabled institution,” said Williams, previously on college gridiron staffs at Hawaii, Washington, Stanford and San Jose State. Tom Beckett, Yale’s athletic department director, was an associate athletic director at Stanford when Williams was a student there. Williams replaces Jack Siedlecki, who retired after 12 seasons to serve as an assistant to Beckett. He compiled a 70-47 record and guided the Bulldogs to shares of the Ivy League title in 1999 and 2006. The Jaguars failed to qualify for the NFL playoffs this season, finishing 5-11. “[Williams] has shown strong leadership qualities and is a very good communicator,” Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. “This is a great opportunity for him.”
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set