BASKETBALL
Lin’s domain up for grabs
The Chinese domain name bearing the name of New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin — www.linshuhao.com — has been registered in China and has been put up for sale. The Web site quotes Forbes as describing “Lin Shu-hao” as among the fastest-growing brands in the world, currently valued at US$14 million. The brand is weighed the same as that of Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant, both of whom are ranked by Forbes as among the top six athlete brands in the world. A simple English message below the Chinese ad on the Web site states: “This domain name is for sale.” An attempt to contact the registrant was met with the message: “Too many bidders right now. Please state your budget or we won’t reply.” Chinese businessmen have reportedly offered 260,000 yuan (US$41,293) to buy the Chinese domain name, the Chinese news Web site Tiangjinwe.com reported. In light of possible violation by “linshuhao.com” of Lin’s trademark in the US, a Chinese attorney said there was insufficient evidence to support the argument, pointing out that there are many ways to spell Lin’s Chinese name.
CORRUPTION
Officials target match-fixing
South Korea has declared a “state of emergency” against match-fixing allegations tarnishing a number of domestic sports leagues and has issued a package of measures aimed at tackling sports-related corruption. The allegations that led to the investigation of dozens of players and officials in the domestic soccer league last year have since spread to South Korea’s professional baseball and volleyball competitions. Under a recently revised law on sports promotion, players or coaches who took part in fixing schemes would be sentenced to up to five years in prison or pay up to 50 million won (US$44,500) in fines, Yonhap said. Their teams would also face expulsion from their leagues.
TENNIS
I’m no Djokovic: Azarenka
Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka is pleased with her 17 straight victories so far this season, but the Australian Open champion is not about to compare her winning streak with Novak Djokovic’s all-conquering start to last season just yet. “I am honored to have the comparison because he is a great champion, but I have a lot of work to do to catch up with him,” Azarenka said. Djokovic went 41 matches unbeaten at the start of last season. The Belarussian’s 17th straight victory sealed her first title since replacing Wozniacki at the top of the rankings after winning in Melbourne, Australia.
SOCCER
Libyans cheer sport’s return
Libyan soccer fans of all ages came out to cheer the first international matches played in the North African country since the conflict that ousted former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi amid hope that Monday’s games in Benghazi would be the start of many more to come. CSKA Sofia, the 31-time Bulgarian champions, were the first foreign team to play in Libya after the uprising against Qaddafi’s rule erupted on Feb. 17 last year. Although the “Benina Martyrs” stadium in Benghazi was not full, about 1,000 Libyan men, women and children came to support the two home sides playing, Al Ahli Tripoli and Al Nasr Benghazi. Waving the red, green and black flag of Libya’s new National Transitional Council, as well as those for local teams, the crowd watched three 45-minute games, cheering loudly when the first goal was scored.
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