TENNIS
Graf-fic offer on Internet
A video making the rounds on the Internet shows tennis great Andre Agassi — tongue-in-cheek? — offering bidders at a charity auction in Taiwan a chance to see a nude photo of his wife, Steffi Graf. One newscast clip — with almost 20,000 views on YouTube as of Friday morning — shows Agassi holding a plate up for bids and telling the crowd at an event this month: “You pay more than US$4,000 and I will show you a picture of my wife — on my phone — naked.” Later, a man — presumably the top bidder — appears next to Agassi. Hamming it up, Agassi motions to the man to relax and take deep breaths. Agassi then shows his phone to the man, who plays up for the cameras. It’s not clear what picture — Graf as a newborn? — really was on the phone, if there even was a photo at all.
BASEBALL
Yanks sign Rafael Soriano
The New York Yankees signed free agent reliever Rafael Soriano, giving the team one of the top late-inning relief combinations, according to a report on MLB’s official Web site (www.mlb.com) on Friday. Soriano, who led the American League with 45 saves in 48 attempts last season with the Tampa Bay Rays, has to pass a physical before his three-year, US$35 million contract can be officially announced, it said. The 31-year-old right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic is expected to be a setup man for longtime Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and fill in as the closer on days when the fellow All-Star is unavailable to pitch.
BASEBALL
Royals ink Jeff Francis
The Kansas City Royals signed free agent pitcher Jeff Francis to a one-year contract on Friday in a bid to restock their rotation after trading former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke to Milwaukee. The Canadian-born left-hander, who missed the 2009 campaign following surgery on his left shoulder, had a 4-10 record in 19 starts with the Colorado Rockies last season. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but Francis, 30, must pass a physical before it is announced, the Royals said in a statement. Francis, Colorado’s first-round pick in 2002, went a career best 17-9 in 2007 when Colorado won the National League pennant.
BASEBALL
Thome re-signs with Twins
Five-time All-Star Jim Thome has re-signed with the Minnesota Twins as the top designated hitter with the club. The 40-year-old Thome signed a one-year deal that the US media reported is worth US$3 million. “It’s great to be back,” the slugger said on Friday. Thome hit 25 home runs and drove in 59 runs in 276 at-bats for Minnesota last season. Last year, he also eclipsed Rafael Palmeiro, Harmon Killebrew, Mark McGwire and Frank Robinson for eighth place on the league’s all-time home run list with 589.
BASKETBALL
Rockets granted exception
The NBA has granted Houston a disabled player salary exception after the Rockets’ Chinese star Yao Ming suffered another season-ending injury. Yao had surgery on Jan. 6 to repair a stress fracture in his left ankle. The disabled player exception allows the Rockets to acquire a free agent or trade for a player to replace him without having to match salaries, up to about US$5.76 million. The Rockets were granted the same exception after Yao missed all of last season in the wake of reconstructive foot surgery.
SOCCER
Santa Cruz returns to Rovers
Paraguayan international Roque Santa Cruz has joined former club Blackburn Rovers on loan from Manchester City for the remainder of the season, it was confirmed on Friday. Santa Cruz, 29, has struggled to fit in at Eastlands since being signed by former City manager Mark Hughes in 2009. Santa Cruz enjoyed a prolific two seasons in his previous stint at Ewood Park, netting 29 goals, but he was selected by City manager Roberto Mancini just four times this season, scoring two goals. “I felt a bit ignored by the manager. It’s been hard not to play, not to be chosen, even though I feel great,” Santa Cruz said. “It’s frustrating, I’ve been playing a lot through the years with small injuries, and just when I feel perfect to play and perform I wasn’t selected. I feel like I am coming home, this has been the easiest decision of my career.”
SOCCER
Toffees accept Pienaar bid
Everton confirmed on Friday they have accepted a bid from an unnamed club for South Africa international Steven Pienaar. The English Premier League side had received two offers for Pienaar and one has been accepted, Everton boss David Moyes said. The identity of the club was not disclosed, but Pienaar was believed to have been in talks with champions Chelsea recently. It has also been reported that Pienaar has signed a pre-contract agreement with a European club. The likely departure of Pienaar comes as a huge blow to Everton, but with the player out of contract at the end of the season the Toffees had little choice but to cash in during the transfer window.
SOCCER
Keane in talks with Blues
Birmingham City on Friday had a £6 million (US$9.5 million) bid accepted by Tottenham Hotspur for veteran Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane, media reports claimed. Alex McLeish’s City were given permission to hold talks with former Liverpool star Keane, the Press Association reported, although the player has yet to discuss personal terms with the Midlands club. Keane, who has been told he can leave White Hart Lane by Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, spent the second half of last season on loan at Celtic.
CRICKET
Aussies plump for Doherty
Australia have named left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty ahead of off-spinner Nathan Hauritz in the team for the first of seven one-day internationals against England. Today’s match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground will be Australia’s last before Wednesday’s deadline for teams to name their final 15 players for the World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Doug Bollinger, Brett Lee and Shaun Tait will form the pace attack, with Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle sitting the game out.
FORMULA ONE
Maldonado thanks Chavez
Formula One rookie Pastor Maldonado put on a demonstration on Friday for thousands of his fans and thanked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his government’s support ahead of the driver’s debut F1 season with Williams. The 25-year-old Maldonado, who will team up with Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello at Williams, drove last year’s car around an improvised track next to a Caracas military base. “We expect quite a difficult season, but with determination we’re going to achieve many successes, of that I am certain,” said Maldonado, personally thanking Chavez. Chavez said he has high hopes for Maldonado as an F1 driver.
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