BASKETBALL
NBA tries to avoid lockout
The National Basketball Association (NBA) and its players will negotiate one last time in an effort to prevent a lockout that today might shut down half the major US sports world and its US$14 billion in combined revenue. With the National Football League (NFL) entering the 110th day of its lockout today, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association will meet in New York aiming to find enough common ground to extend their own labor accord — which expires at the end of the day — long enough to reach a new deal. Absent that, the NBA could lock out the players today, marking the second time two major US sports leagues had concurrent work stoppages. An NBA work stoppage would be the third in its history.
SOCCER
Yeung charged in Hong Kong
Hairdresser turned tycoon and English soccer club owner Carson Yeung was charged with money laundering yesterday by a Hong Kong court. Yeung, owner of Birmingham City and chairman of Hong Kong-listed Birmingham International, was charged with “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence” totaling HK$721 million (US$95 million), the Hong Kong Magistrates’ Court said. Shares of Birmingham International, the soccer club’s parent company, which has a market capitalization of about HK$550 million, were suspended on Tuesday.
ICE HOCKEY
Rangers buy out Drury
The New York Rangers bought out the final year of captain Chris Drury’s contract, making the veteran forward an unrestricted free agent after four mediocre seasons, the NHL team said on Wednesday. Drury, who was expected to help the Rangers return to a Stanley Cup championship when he signed with the team in 2007, scored 62 goals and 89 assists for 151 points in 264 games during his time with the team. “Chris is a consummate professional, a tremendous competitor and an even better person,” Rangers general manager Glen Sather said in a statement. “He gave his heart and soul to the Rangers organization in his time here and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.” Drury, 34, was limited to a career-low 24 games last season because of injuries and is now free to sign with any team. Buying out Drury’s contract frees up valuable cap space for a Rangers team expected to be in the bidding for Dallas Stars center Brad Richards, who is considered the top player available when the NHL’s free agency period begins today.
ICE HOCKEY
Paul Kariya retires
Paul Kariya, a Canadian of Japanese heritage whose 15-year National Hockey League career was dogged by concussions, announced his retirement on Wednesday through his agent, Don Baizley. Kariya was forced to miss the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics in Japan, where he was expected to be a focus of attention because of his heritage, and much of the 1997 to 1998 season after a cross-check to the head from Chicago’s Gary Suter. The 36-year-old left wing scored 402 goals and assisted on 587 more with the Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators and St Louis Blues. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship twice. Kariya missed all of last season due to post-concussion symptoms. He missed six games in the 2009-2010 season due to a concussion. Kariya helped Canada win Olympic hockey gold in 2002 at Salt Lake City and also played for the 1994 Canadian Olympic squad.
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