BASKETBALL
Lakers sign Dwight Howard
The Los Angeles Lakers have reached a deal to land six-time All-Star Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic as part of a four-team trade including the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets, ESPN reported on Thursday. According to the report, the Lakers have a trade call scheduled for Friday to secure the necessary approval from the National Basketball Association (NBA) to make the deal official. As part of the deal, Philadelphia will get Andrew Bynum from the Lakers and Jason Richardson from the Magic, Denver receives Andre Iguodala from the 76ers, the report said. In exchange, Orlando will take Arron Affalo and Al Harrington from the Nuggets and Nikola Vucevic and Maurice Harkless from the 76ers, and one first-round draft pick from each of the other three teams involved in the deal, ESPN said. Howard is a three-time NBA defensive player of the year who has led the Magic in scoring and rebounds in each of the past seven seasons. He would instantly bolster a Lakers team looking to recapture their form after being knocked out of the second round of the NBA playoffs in each of the past two seasons.
GOLF
Lindberg leads Toledo
Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg poured in birdie putts of 40 and 50 feet en route to a round of seven-under 64 to take a two-shot lead on Thursday at the LPGA Tour’s Toledo Classic. The 26-year-old Swede has not finished in the top 10 of an LPGA event in her three years as a professional, and has missed the cut in a half dozen of her 10 starts this season. Lindberg rolled in a 50-foot birdie putt at the fifth hole and drained a 40-footer for a birdie on the par-three 14th. She made three 25-footers at Nos. 4, 12 and 18 in the rainy first round on Thursday. Two shots back were American Angela Stanford, Japan’s Mika Miyazato, South Korea’s Chella Choi, American Meredith Duncan, Thailand’s Numa Gulyanamitta and France’s Karine Icher. Taiwan’s Candie Kung shot a two-under 69, while Amy Hung and Lin Tzu-chi carded one-under 70s. Taiwanese world No. 1 Yani Tseng opened with a one-over 72.
SOCCER
Di Maria’s contract extended
Real Madrid has extended the contract of its Argentine winger Angel di Maria until 2018, the club said on Thursday, sealing his place as it seeks to retain the Spanish league title. “Angel di Maria has extended his contract with Real Madrid. [Coach] Jose Mourinho will have one of the key pieces of the Real Madrid attack available to him until at least the end of the 2017/18 season,” it said in a statement. Di Maria, 24, moved in 2010 from Portuguese side Benfica to Real, which is now preparing to host its fierce rivals Barcelona in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Aug. 23. “I’m very happy here and the extension of my contract gives me the possibility to continue with Real Madrid for many years in order to continue improving,” the club quoted him as saying.
SOCCER
Parker out after surgery
Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder Scott Parker will miss at least the first month of the season after undergoing surgery on his Achilles, the Premier League club said on Thursday. “Scott Parker has undergone successful surgery to his right Achilles,” Spurs said on their Web site. “The midfielder is expected to return to training after the international break in September.” Parker missed several games toward the end of last season, but managed to start every England match at Euro 2012 despite the problem.
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