■ BASEBALL
Kuo leads online MLB poll
Taiwanese pitcher Kuo Hong-chih has taken a solid lead in an online poll on Major League Baseball’s Web site asking fans to name this year’s best setup man. As of 8pm Monday, the LA Dodgers’ Kuo had garnered 34 percent of the votes, the most among the six choices given. He was followed by Arthur Rhodes of the Cincinnati Reds, who had 20 percent, with Daniel Bard of the Boston Red Sox ranking third with 15 percent and Scott Downs of the Toronto Blue Jays with 10 percent. The lefty reliever has a 3-1 record with four saves, 17 holds and an ERA of 0.88 in 39 appearances. Kuo was voted on MLB’s Web site as the 2008 Setup Man of the Year.
■ BASEBALL
Rodriguez has torn ligament
New York Mets relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez has a torn thumb ligament in his pitching hand sustained during a fight with his girlfriend’s father at New York’s Citi Field and will need surgery that will sideline him for the rest of the season. The Mets announced the injury before Monday’s game against Houston. Mets manager Jerry Manuel said he was “disappointed, discouraged, frustrated” by the news. Rodriguez was suspended for two days following the fight outside a family room at the stadium last week. The 28-year-old closer was charged with third-degree assault and second-degree harassment.
■ FIGURE SKATING
Former US champ sentenced
Nicole Bobek, the 1995 US women’s figure skating champion, was sentenced to five years on probation on Monday for a role in a crystal methamphetamine ring. Bobek, 32, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in June and apologized for her actions at her sentencing hearing. She was among more than two dozen people accused of creating a network that distributed US$10,000 of the drug each week. The alleged leader, Edward Cruz Jr, was sentenced to 16 years in prison earlier this month.
■CRICKET
PCB pledges flood money
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) yesterday pledged 11.42 million Pakistani rupees (US$133,400) for flood victims and said it was working to drum up further funds through an international exhibition match in England. Pakistan has been devastated by massive flooding that has affected 20 million people in the country’s worst ever natural disaster. The board said it felt duty bound to support the victims and made the pledge to the Pakistani prime minister’s flood relief fund. The donations were made by board chairman Ijaz Butt, board staff and players on the national team. Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi has also launched a campaign and is touring flood-affected areas to distribute funds and food.
■ BASKETBALL
Haslem released after arrest
Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem, who turned down richer offers to sign last month with the team he helped to a 2006 NBA title, is free from custody after being arrested on drug charges on Sunday. Police charged Haslem after his 2008 Mercedes sedan was stopped for speeding and smelled of marijuana. A search uncovered a bag of marijuana, leading to charges of possessing more than 20g of marijuana, a felony, and four counts of possessing drug paraphernalia. A passenger in the vehicle, Antwain Fleming, told police the marijuana belonged to him. He was charged with a misdemeanor possession charge of under 20g. Haslem has averaged 10 points and 8.1 rebounds over seven seasons, all with the Heat.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with