BASKETBALL
Players to vote on proposal
NBA owners and the players union have concluded their latest negotiating efforts with a proposal to be voted on by the players that, if accepted, will allow for a 72-game season beginning on Dec. 15. “The labor relations committee made a revised proposal to the union which attempted to meet their concerns as best as we and the labor relations committee could,” NBA commissioner David Stern told a press conference. “We did that in the context of a possibility that we could have a 72-game schedule starting Dec. 15.” The players union had hoped for more movement on several key non-financial issues after they expressed their willingness to move off their desired economic revenue split of in excess of 52.5 percent in their favor. Stern expressed that should the union not accept their latest proposal the owners’ negotiating position would switch to a less favorable 53-47 percent split of revenues in favor of the owners.
ICE HOCKEY
Crosby remains sidelined
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will not return to the NHL for at least the next two games despite looking good in practice, his team said on Thursday. The 24-year-old, the league’s biggest drawing card, was cleared for contact last month after being sidelined since January by a concussion. “He had a good week of practice and is progressing, but he won’t be playing this weekend,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was quoted as saying by the team’s Web site. “We’re not keeping a secret. When he plays, we’ll make sure we let you know.” Crosby has not competed since absorbing two hits to the head in successive games within a week in early January last year and experiencing post-concussion symptoms.
INDYCAR
Race in China announced
IndyCar will stage its first race in China in August next year on a 3.87 mile (6.2km) temporary street circuit in Qingdao, the US-based open-wheel auto racing series announced on Thursday. The race will be hosted Aug. 19 at the site of 2008 Beijing Olympic sailing events. “China, the world’s second-largest economy, has become a top priority with most American businesses and the sponsors that are committed to IndyCar,” series chief executive Randy Bernard said. “Last year, at our sponsorship summit, China was the No. 1 place our sponsors wanted to go outside of the United States.” Bernard said there is a long-term goal of constructing a permanent racing venue in the area. IndyCar’s only prior Asian venue was in Japan, a race that was canceled after this past season.
ATHLETICS
Pan Am medals lose luster
Complaints from athletes about fading medals have taken the shine off Mexico’s widely-praised organization of the Pan American Games last month. “The day they gave me my medal, it was shiny and perfect, but several days later it started losing its shine and now it looks oxidized, like old metal,” Mexican pole vaulter Giovanni Lanaro, who won a bronze, said on Thursday. The organizing committee of the games in Guadalajara admitted it had received 15 formal complaints about the medals by Wednesday, including from athletes from Brazil and the US. The Mexican Olympic Committee lamented that some medals, mainly the bronze ones, showed defects. “It’s an embarrassment for us as organizers, for all Mexicans, that this has happened,” Felipe Munoz, the committee’s president, told journalists, calling for the official mint to replace the damaged medals.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set