■BASEBALL
Singh on song for Pirates
Former Indian farmhand and reality show contestant Rinku Singh earned his first win on Monday pitching in the second game of a minor league Gulf Coast League doubleheader. Singh struck out the only batter he faced in Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate team the Bradenton Pirates’ 10-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers’ affiliate. He is believed to be the first Indian player to win a professional baseball game in the US. Singh and Dinesh Patel were signed by the Pirates last year after appearing on an Indian reality TV show called Million Dollar Arm that drew about 30,000 contestants in a country where baseball is almost unknown. The show sought to find athletes who could throw strikes at 85mph (137kph). Singh and Patel made their professional debuts on July 4.
■SOCCER
Hartson battles cancer
Former Wales, Arsenal and Celtic striker John Hartson has been diagnosed with cancer, it was revealed on Monday. The 34-year-old attended Swansea’s Singleton Hospital on Friday “displaying symptoms consistent with testicular cancer” and further tests have revealed the disease has spread to his brain. Gianfilippo Bertelli, consultant medical oncologist at ABM University NHS Trust in Swansea, said: “We are awaiting the results of further tests to establish a full picture of Mr Hartson’s diagnosis. We will be commencing a course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy as soon as possible and foresee many months of treatment.” Hartson was capped 51 times for Wales. He went from Celtic to West Bromwich Albion and retired last year.
■BASKETBALL
Shaq visits Shaolin Temple
NBA All-Star center Shaquille O’Neal said he hopes to bring his martial arts skills to the basketball court, during a visit to China’s Shaolin Temple — the birthplace of kung fu. “When I was a kid, I saw a lot of Shaolin kung fu performances,” O’Neal told Titan Sports, China’s top sports newspaper, as he toured the temple in Henan Province on Monday. “I always wanted to know if Shaolin kung fu was real or not. Now, at last I know — the Chinese kung fu I saw on television, it was all real,” he said in remarks translated into Chinese. “When I go home I will study this and hopefully even use it when I’m playing basketball.” O’Neal has practised martial arts in the off-season for years. On Monday, he met with the temple’s top monks and watched a group of warrior monks performing martial arts exercises. “I am really interested in snake-style kung fu,” Titan quoted O’Neal as saying. “When I retire, I hope to come back to the Shaolin Temple to study for a year. To come here just this one time is not enough.”
■BASKETBALL
McGrady switches for Darfur
Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady will switch jersey numbers next season to help raise awareness for his Darfur humanitarian project, the NBA team said on Monday. McGrady will surrender his No. 1 jersey to new teammate Trevor Ariza, a swingman. McGrady, who could miss up to the first half of next season while recovering from left knee surgery, will wear the No. 3. McGrady hopes to raise attention for the 3 Points documentary that will debut in the US later this year, a movie chronicling his 2007 journey to Darfur refugee camps in Chad. The “3 Points” refer to the goals of peace, protection and punishment in Darfur, with McGrady seeking peace and protection for those forced into camps and punishment for those involved in the Darfur violence.
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