■BASKETBALL
Wright was murdered: police
Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright, whose body was found in woods outside Memphis, Tennessee, was shot to death and the case is being investigated as a homicide, police said Thursday. Family members had said on Wednesday that police told them Wright’s body had been found near an apartment complex. Police delayed confirmation, awaiting an autopsy that confirmed the identity based on dental records, authorities said in a statement. The Shelby County medical examiner’s office reported that Wright died of a gunshot wound, police said. Wright, a 34-year-old Memphis native, was last seen around midnight on July 18. His family filed a missing person report with police on July 22, but investigators said as recently as Monday that they didn’t suspect foul play. Police said a 911 call was placed from Wright’s cellphone early on July 19. Investigators determined the call came from the area where the body was found and on Wednesday searched the woods and found Wright. Wright played 13 years in the NBA for the Clippers, Hawks, Grizzlies, Kings and most recently the Cavaliers.
■BASKETBALL
Bad boy to stay in China
Former NBA bad boy Stephon Marbury has agreed to stay three more years with a Chinese basketball team, under a contract that includes a marketing deal for his line of athletic shoes, the team has said. Marbury, 33, will play for the Shanxi Brave Dragons for two more years, and will either be a player or an assistant coach in the third year of his contract, the team said in a statement on its Web site. The statement said Marbury would make the same salary he earned last season, without giving a figure, but would be compensated for that “modest” sum with the creation of a company to sell his “Starbury” line of apparel and shoes. Three stores selling Starbury products will be opened in the city of Taiyuan, where the team plays, following the start of the new season.
■BASEBALL
Showalter to manage Orioles
Buck Showalter has been hired as manager of the struggling Baltimore Orioles and now has the task of trying to turn around a team that owns Major League Baseball’s worst record this season. Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail confirmed the hiring of Showalter, a former American League manager of the year, in a report posted on the team’s Web site. The 54-year-old Showalter will replace interim manger Juan Samuel, who compiled a 16-31 record since taking over for Dave Trembley early last month after the Orioles got off to their worst start in more than two decades. The Orioles (31-70) are stuck in last place overall and on pace for their 13th consecutive losing season.
■BASEBALL
Strasburg on disabled list
Washington Nationals rookie right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been placed on the 15-day disabled list because of stiffness in his pitching shoulder, the team said on Thursday. The decision to put Strasburg on the disabled list comes two days after the 22-year-old pitcher was scratched minutes before a scheduled start after experiencing stiffness in his shoulder while warming up. The move is retroactive to July 22, according to the Nationals’ Web site. Examinations taken earlier this week revealed inflammation in the shoulder, but no structural damage. He will not throw for the next three to four days, then have the shoulder re-evaluated.
■ATHLETICS
Cheruiyot claims gold
World champion Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya won the women’s 5,000m at the African Championships in Nairobi on Thursday, as the host nation looked to re-establish dominance over rivals Ethiopia in the distance events. Cheruiyot pulled away from Ethiopian duo Meseret Defar and Sentayehu Ejigu over the final 400m, winning in 16 minutes, 18.72 seconds. In the sprint events, Ben Youssef Meite of Ivory Coast won the men’s 100m in 10.08 seconds — 0.03 seconds faster than Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre’s winning time in the European championships on Wednesday — with Ghana’s Zakari Aziz second in 10.12 seconds and South Africa’s Simon Magakwe taking bronze in 10.14 seconds. Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria won the women’s 100m in 11.03 seconds, equaling her personal best. Perennes Pau Zang Milama of Gabon won silver in 11.15 seconds, while Nigeria’s Osayemi Damola was third in 11.22 seconds. Adigun Seun of Nigeria won the women’s 100m hurdles in 13.14 seconds, while Senegal’s Gnima Faye took silver in a time of 13.67 seconds.
■RUGBY UNION
De Villiers facing censure
South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has been issued with a misconduct notice over comments he made last week about referees favoring the All Blacks, governing body SANZAR said yesterday. The Springboks were beaten 32-12 and 31-17 by New Zealand in their first two Tri-Nations matches and de Villiers suggested before their clash with the Wallabies in Brisbane, Australia, that the All Blacks were being favored ahead of next year’s World Cup. “I’ve got my own observations about the last two Tests and I can’t say it in public, but we do have a World Cup in New Zealand next year and maybe it was the right thing for them to win the games so they can attract more people to the games next year,” he said on Australian television on July 21. De Villiers later backtracked on the comments.
■RUGBY UNION
Highlanders hire Joseph
Former All Blacks flanker Jamie Joseph has been confirmed as the new coach of Super rugby franchise the Otago Highlanders, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) said yesterday. Joseph, an Otago provincial stalwart in the 1990s, had been expected to be named as the coach of the team for next year’s Super 15 after the NZRU said earlier the position would be advertised, effectively ending Glenn Moore’s tenure. “The Highlanders are an exciting team with a great mix of experience and plenty of new potential,” Joseph said. “This is a great opportunity for me and one I am looking forward to.”
■BOXING
Briggs set to fight Klitschko
Shannon Briggs is looking forward to ending the career of WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko after announcing on Thursday that he will fight the Ukranian on Oct. 16. “I got the contract [on Wednesday],” the American former WBO champion was reported as saying by the BBC. “I look forward to retiring a great champion — I’m the best ever.”
■RALLYING
Solberg wins opening stage
Citroen’s Norwegian driver Petter Solberg won the opening special stage of the Rally of Finland on Thursday. Last year’s winner and local favorite Mikko Hirvonen came in second after the 4.19km run, with his Ford teammate and countryman Jari-Mari Latvala in third. Multiple champion Sebastien Loeb of France was placed fourth on a day where a record temperature of 37ºC was recorded.
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