■ATHLETICS
Ethiopian runner arrested
Police in Ethiopia confirmed on Saturday they had arrested former Olympic bronze medalist Fita Bayisa after he allegedly shot his wife in a row over property. The 36-year-old athlete, who won bronze in the 5,000m at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, was detained last Monday hours after the incident took place in Alem Gena — 6km west of Addis Ababa. A local newspaper said the couple, who have five children, were embroiled in a legal battle over the ownership of a kindergarten school. The paper said the un-named wife remained in a stable condition in a hospital.
■BASEBALL
Indians make pro debuts
Two former aspiring cricket players who won a reality show in India have made their professional baseball debuts. Left-hander Rinku Singh and right-hander Dinesh Patel, neither of whom had heard of baseball before appearing on The Million Dollar Arm, each got a strikeout for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Rookie-level minor league team. Singh, who came in first on the show, allowed one run and two hits in one inning of work, throwing 19 pitches. Patel, who was second, threw eight pitches in a scoreless inning. The show tried to find cricket players who could throw the most pitches 85mph or faster for strikes.
■BASKETBALL
FIBA orders payments
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) have ordered Bulgarian champions Lukoil Academic to pay two former players nearly US$285,000 in unpaid salaries and lawsuit expenses, the club said. Former Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Stevin Smith and Serbian guard Nenad Djoric filed for compensation over delays in salary payments after leaving the club last year. The 17-time Bulgarian champions must pay Smith US$183,033 and Djoric US$101,887, with FIBA ruling that Lukoil were not allowed to sign new players until the payments had been made. Lukoil sporting director Sasho Vezenkov said the club would appeal the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
■BOXING
Moreno retains title
Anselmo Moreno of Panama retained his WBA bantamweight title Saturday with a split decision over Frenchman Mahyar Monshipour in Poitiers, France. Moreno (26-1-1) kept his composure as Monshipour pressured strongly between the eighth and 10th rounds. Two of the judges scored the bout 116-113 and 116-112 in favor of Moreno, while the third gave the fight to Monshipour 115-113. Moreno, whose only loss was in 2002, started strongly, catching Monshipour with a left hook in the first round and a several sharp jabs in the second. The Panamanian got caught with a couple of shots, but used his speed and longer reach to keep Monshipour at bay.
■SAILING
Alinghi unveil catamaran
Alinghi of Switzerland has confirmed it will use a giant catamaran when it defends the America’s Cup against bitter US rival BMW Oracle Racing early next year. The catamaran is 27m long on the waterline. The high-tech craft was built in Villeneuve, Switzerland, and will be launched by helicopter on Lake Geneva this coming week before undergoing testing. Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing of San Francisco are scheduled to meet in a best-of-3 series in February in massive multihulls. Alinghi gets to pick the venue. It reportedly is considering Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where its catamaran could excel in light wind and flat water.
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