SOCCER
Newly signed Ortega injured
Colombian starlet Michael Ortega is expected to be out for several weeks after tearing knee ligaments in his first training session with German league club Bayer Leverkusen, team officials said on Wednesday. Leverkusen signed the 20-year-old last month on loan from Mexican side Atlas Guadalajara after he impressed at the Under-20 World Cup in Mexico. Ortega will now undergo rehabilitation in Leverkusen.
FOOTBALL
Manning’s streak finished
Peyton Manning’s starting streak is over. The Colts announced on Wednesday that Manning would not play on Sunday in the NFL season-opener in Houston, Texas, bringing an end to his streak of 227 consecutive starts. The Colts say they will start 38-year-old Kerry Collins against the Texans. Manning has not been able to fully recover from neck surgery in May. During his streak, he has led the Colts to 11 playoff appearances, 11 double-digit win seasons, eight division crowns, two AFC titles and the first Super Bowl championship in the franchise’s Indianapolis era. The streak is the second-longest among NFL quarterbacks behind only Brett Favre.
CYCLING
Porte to join Team Sky
Highly rated Australian rider Richie Porte, of Saxo Bank, will join Team Sky next year, the British outfit announced on Wednesday. The 26-year-old emerged at last year’s Tour of Italy when he held the overall leader’s pink jersey from stages 11 to 13 before eventually finishing 7th. This year he competed in the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France alongside Spain’s Alberto Contador. The Tasmanian native, a capable climber and time-trialist, is Team Sky’s third new signing this week. The 21-year-old duo Salvatore Puccio, of Italy, and Welshman Luke Rowe will also race for Sky next year. Puccio won the recent under-23 Tour of Flanders, while Rowe has made his name in track cycling, including winning two junior European Championship titles.
BASKETBALL
NBA owners, players talk
NBA players and club owners met in New York for talks on Wednesday for only the third time since a July 1 lockout shutdown of the league and planned to continue negotiations yesterday and possibly today. Six hours of talks last week led to the five-hour session on Wednesday in New York, and while owners and players agreed not to talk about how talks were progressing, both sides faced pressure as precious time ticked away. NBA training camps are scheduled to open on Oct. 1, just three weeks from tomorrow, with a month of pre-season exhibitions ahead of the planned Nov. 1 start of the next season season.
BASEBALL
Clemens’ team broke rules
Representatives of Roger Clemens’ legal defense team contacted jurors from his July mistrial in violation of court orders against doing so, US District Judge Reggie Walton said on Wednesday. Walton has scheduled a retrial starting April 17 on charges the former Major League Baseball superstar pitcher lied to Congress when he denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs during a 2008 hearing. The first trial began, but was halted on the second day when prosecutors presented evidence that Walton had already been banned from being seen by jurors. After learning that a defense investigator contacted some of the 12 jurors and four alternates seated in July, prosecutors asked Walton for permission to contact them as well.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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