FOOTBALL
Khan takes Jaguars’ reins
The Jacksonville Jaguars officially transferred ownership from Wayne Weaver to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan on Wednesday. The transfer ushered in a new era for the small-market franchise that has been in existence since 1993. Weaver agreed to sell the team to Khan on Nov. 29 for US$770 million. The deal included a US$660 million sale price and US$110 million in debt. Weaver said he had “great confidence in Shad and his family that the franchise is in good hands.” Khan, who tried to buy the St Louis Rams in 2010, began negotiating to buy the Jaguars later that year. He said he wanted to assure fans he “will do everything possible to build a consistent winner on the field and a model franchise off the field.”
SKIING
Kofler thwarts compatriot
Austria’s Andreas Kofler won the third leg of the Four Hills trophy in Innsbruck, Austria, on Wednesday to thwart compatriot Gregor Schlierenzauer’s dreams of winning all four legs and taking the 815,000 euro (US$1.05 million) bonus offered by the organizers. Kofler, who finished second in the first two legs, recorded his fifth win of the season and extended his lead in the overall standings as world ski jump champion Schlierenzauer finished second and Japan’s Taku Takeuchi finished third. Schlierenzauer said that he was not too disappointed to have missed the chance of the bonus because his main objective was to win the tournament — he leads Kofler by just 17 points.
SKIING
Kirchgasser out with injury
Austrian skier Michaela Kirchgasser has been ruled out of the World Cup for three weeks after injuring her right knee in Tuesday’s night slalom in Zagreb, Croatia, where she came third for her first career podium result in the discipline. The Austrian ski federation said Kirchgasser’s bruised knee would be treated through physiotherapy and did not need surgery. “This injury is very annoying for me right now,” Kirchgasser said. “I will use the positive energy from my podium finish and my recent good results to try to come back as soon as possible.”
BASKETBALL
Ginobili to undergo surgery
Argentine San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili will undergo surgery on his broken left hand and is expected to miss at least two months of the NBA. Ginobili tweeted on Wednesday that he would have a plate screwed onto his shooting hand yesterday. He injured it during the Spurs’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. Ginobili was averaging 17.4 points a game and was San Antonio’s leading scorer. Losing Ginobili again is a major blow for the Spurs after the two-time NBA All-Star hobbled into the playoffs last year with a sprained elbow. That injury helped doom San Antonio in its first-round loss to Memphis despite a 61-win season.
BASKETBALL
Samuels has passport issue
Jamaican center Samardo Samuels will not play for the Cleveland Cavaliers in Toronto because he does not have a passport. The team said Samuels did not travel with the club and would not be in uniform on Wednesday as Cleveland visit the Raptors to open a seven-game road trip. The Cavaliers said Samuels, who is averaging 7.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16 minutes, would rejoin them in Minnesota yesterday. Samuels recently said on his Twitter account that he lost his passport. He was completing the paperwork to get a new one.
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