BASEBALL
Ryan Braun signs extension
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun has agreed to a five-year contract extension that will keep the three-time All-Star with the team through the 2020 season, the club said on Thursday. Financial terms of the deal, which includes a no-trade clause, were not disclosed, but it is reported to be worth US$105 million, one of the highest ever for an outfielder, according to a report on MLB’s Web site. The US$21 million average annual value of the contract ranks second among outfielders, after Manny Ramirez’s two-year, US$45 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Ryan Braun has already shown that he is a very rare and special talent,” Brewers chairman and principal owner Mark Attanasio said in a statement. Braun previously had signed an eight-year, US$45 million contract with the Brewers in 2008. His signing represents the longest commitment to a player by the Brewers. He and Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki are the only MLB players signed through the 2020.
BASEBALL
More retirees get pensions
MLB and the players’ union announced an agreement on Thursday to make belated payments to players who retired before 1980, but did not qualify for a pension. Under the previous agreement, players who retired between 1947 and 1980 were only eligible for benefits if they completed at least four seasons in the league. Players who competed after 1980 become eligible as soon as they played one game. However, under the new deal, those affected players will now be entitled to an annual payment of up to US$10,000 for at least the next two years. Further payments will be discussed in the next round of collective bargaining agreements. “We felt that this was the right thing to do for these former players who contributed to our game’s unparalleled history,” MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.
BADMINTON
BWF delays ‘skirt rule’
The introduction of the controversial “skirt rule” has been postponed by a month to grant female shuttlers more time to adapt to the dress code, the game’s governing body said. The new Badminton World Federation (BWF) code, which requires all female players to wear skirts or dresses in major tournaments “to ensure attractive presentation of badminton,” will now be implemented on June 1. The BWF will talk with the players, some of whom have objected to the principle of making skirts compulsory, saying it hampered their movement on court and made them uncomfortable. “Sometimes it is necessary to make rules to get a consistent implementation,” BWF deputy president Paisan Rangsikitpho said in a statement. The rule, which has been criticized by female shuttlers in China, Indonesia and India, allows players to continue to wear shorts provided they are underneath a skirt.
BASKETBALL
Love voted Most Improved
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love has been voted the NBA’s most improved player for the season after leading the league in rebounding, the NBA said on Thursday. Love, 22, set career highs of 20.2 points and 15.2 rebounds per game, and produced the NBA’s first 30 point/30 rebound game since 1982. He had 31 points and 31 rebounds against the New York Knicks in a game in November. He also recorded the league’s longest double points-double rebounds streak since 1974, collecting at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in 53 consecutive games between November and last month.
BASEBALL
Safina downs Cornet
Former No. 1 Dinara Safina beat Alize Cornet of France 6-1, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix SAR in Fez, Morocco, on Thursday. The Russian improved her record against the eighth-seeded Cornet to 3-0. Safina will play Russia’s Anastasia Pivovarova in her second straight quarter-final after reaching the last eight of the Andalucia Tennis Experience, where she retied after lower back pains. Pivovarova upset second-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-2, 7-6 (5), meaning both top seeds are out following Aravane Rezai’s second-round exit on Wednesday. Pivovarova double-faulted six times on her stuttering serve, but broke her opponent five times in the match. Alberta Brianti of Italy also advanced to the last eight after beating Russia’s Ksenia Pervak 7-5, 6-2. She will face Melanie Oudin of the US, who advanced with a walkover win after Slovenia’s Polona Hercog withdrew with a right ankle injury.
TENNNIS
US gets surface choice
Spain’s appeal against the US’ choice of the fast Premier Court surface for the Davis Cup quarter-final in July was turned down on Thursday. Spain had argued that the Premier Court should not be used for the July 8 to July 10 tie in Austin, Texas, as it is rarely used on the tour and therefore did not meet competitive criteria. However, the Davis Cup Committee decided the surface, which the US hope will favor the big service games of hard-court specialists Andy Roddick and John Isner, complies with the rules. “The Davis Cup Committee determined that the court surface chosen by the Americans is of the type which is used in over 30 tour events and two Grand Slam tournaments,” an International Tennis Federation statement said.
FORMULA ONE
Istanbul baulks at F1 fee
Istanbul will not host a Formula One Grand Prix next year because of a disagreement between Turkish officials and Formula One commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone over payments to stage the race, Turkish media reported yesterday. The Hurriyet daily quoted Murat Yalcintas, head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce which backs the race in Turkey, as saying the government rejected a bid by Ecclestone to raise the payment to stage the race to US$26 million from US$13 million. “Formula One says goodbye to Istanbul,” a headline in the Haberturk newspaper said. Yalcintas commented on the situation on his Twitter account. “It looks like the Formula One race will not be held in Istanbul next year,” he said, referring to the bid to double the fee. “Because it found this figure very high it looks like it [the finance ministry] will not make the payment. That is the reason the race is not happening.”
CRICKET
Haider to return to Pakistan
Exiled Pakistani cricketer Zulqarnain Haider says he will go ahead with his plan to return to Pakistan tomorrow, despite receiving telephone calls threatening him if he did so. The wicketkeeper fled to Britain from the team hotel in Dubai in November, saying he had received death threats from match fixers. Haider wrote on his Facebook page “Going Pakistan on 24th on Sunday.” Pakistan media reported on Thursday that Haider may cancel his homecoming after the threatening calls, but Haider denied the reports, saying “coming with same plan.” Last week he revoked his application for asylum in Britain after meeting Pakistan’s interior minister, who gave assurances about Haider’s security when he returns to the country.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier