BASKETBALL
Lin’s jersey ‘no big deal’
Houston Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley said yesterday in Taipei during a visit to Taiwan that he hopes to continue playing with teammate Jeremy Lin, amid rumors that Lin will be traded. “Jeremy is like a brother to me,” said Beverley, who was set to attend a three-on-three youth basketball game today. Beverley’s remarks came amid speculation that California-born Lin, whose parents come from Taiwan, will be replaced by the Rockets with free agent Carmelo Anthony, Lin’s former teammate at the New York Knicks. In an overture to Anthony earlier this month, the Rockets put up promotional images of the basketball star wearing a Rockets No. 7 jersey, which currently belongs to Lin. Asked about the images, Beverley said he felt they were no big deal. Beverley said he also gave up his No. 12 jersey to Dwight Howard when he moved from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Rockets. It is an NBA tradition to save jersey numbers for more established players, Beverley said. Beverley is in Taiwan to present the championship titles at the Cathay NBA Youth Madness 3-on-3 today, which are to be final matches for the men’s and women’s division winners from among 2,000 participating youth basketball teams in Taiwan.
BASKETBALL
Kyrie Irving extends contract
Kyrie Irving signed a five-year contract extension on Thursday with the Cleveland Cavaliers as the NBA club made moves that could pave the way for signing free agent superstar LeBron James. Irving’s deal, believed to be worth the maximum US$90 million, ensures the Cavaliers’ point guard will be part of the club’s long-term talent mix. The Cavaliers announced the move on Thursday as fans awaited word on James, the former Cleveland star who left for Miami as a free agent in 2010 and led the Heat to two NBA titles and the past four NBA Finals. James opted out of his contract with the Heat last month, as did fellow Heat stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
TENNIS
Errani reaches quarters
Sara Errani reached her eighth quarter-final of the season and first since the French Open by defeating Paula Ormaechea of Argentina 6-3, 6-0 in the second round of the Gastein Ladies on Thursday. Errani is next to play Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa, who rallied to beat defending champion Yvonne Meusburger 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Earlier, Shelby Rogers of the US routed the 16th-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-0 to reach her first career WTA quarter-final. Rogers, ranked 147th, had not beaten a top-50 player before. Rogers, who won three matches to qualify for the main draw, is next to play No. 7 Camila Giorgi of Italy, who defeated Austrian wild card Lisa-Maria Moser 6-0, 6-2.
BASEBALL
Sale, Rizzo join All-Stars
White Sox pitcher Chris Sale and the Cubs’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo made it a Chicago sweep on Thursday by winning an online fan vote to claim the last two spots in next week’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Sale was one of five pitchers nominated on the American League ballot, beating Garrett Richards of the Angels, Rick Porcello of the Tigers, Corey Kluber of the Indians and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros by receiving 6.7 million votes. Rizzo, who homered on Wednesday for his third roundtripper in as many days, beat the Rockies’ first baseman Justin Morneau, Braves outfielder Justin Upton, Nationals infielder Anthony Rendon and Marlins third baseman Casey McGehee with 8.8 million votes.
SOCCER
Wanted Briton on the run
An executive from the World Cup’s hospitality services firm escaped out the back door of his plush Rio de Janeiro hotel on Thursday to avoid arrest on charges of illegally selling tickets, authorities said. Police launched a manhunt for Raymond Whelan, British director of FIFA partner company Match Services, accusing him of fleeing the beachfront Copacabana Palace Hotel after a judge ordered him and 10 other suspects to be held in detention. “The Englishman fled through the hotel’s back door and is considered a fugitive,” Rio police said in a statement. “We saw him in [security] footage leaving in a hurry,” Fabio Barucke, the case’s lead investigator, told reporters, adding that Whelan had fled an hour before police arrived. Whelan is accused of being involved with a scalping network that has sold thousands of tickets worth millions of US dollars, going back to the 2002 World Cup.
SOCCER
FIFA rejects Suarez appeal
FIFA on Thursday rejected Luis Suarez’s appeal against his lengthy ban for biting an opponent, saying its appeals committee rejected the appeal by Suarez and the Uruguay soccer federation in its entirety, but that does not mean Suarez has given up hope of playing on the opening day of next season. The Uruguay and Liverpool star has up to 10 days to get the written decision from FIFA, which he needs to lodge an appeal against the ban with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). If he does lodge the appeal, he could apply to the CAS for an immediate freeze of the sanctions. Suarez was banned for nine competitive international matches, four months from all soccer and fined 100,000 Swiss francs (US$112,000) for biting the shoulder of Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Italy. It is the third time Suarez has been banned for biting an opponent.
SOCCER
Sanchez signs for Gunners
Chile international striker Alexis Sanchez on Thursday agreed to join Arsenal on a long-term contract for a reported fee of about £35 million (US$60 million), the English Premier League side announced. Sanchez, 25, joins Arsenal from Barcelona, where he made a total of 88 appearances, scoring 39 goals during his three seasons with the Catalan side. The deal represents Arsenal’s second-biggest outlay for a player behind the club record £42.5 million spent on Germany international Mesut Ozil last summer. Sanchez, who won the 2012-2013 La Liga title with Barcelona and the 2012 Copa del Rey, expressed his excitement at joining the north London club. “I’m so happy to be joining Arsenal, a club which has a great manager, a fantastic squad of players, huge support around the world and a great stadium in London,” Sanchez said.
RUGBY UNION
London Welsh sign Weepu
All Blacks scrumhalf Piri Weepu signed for English Premiership side London Welsh yesterday in a move destined to end his international career. Capped 71 times by New Zealand in an international career that started in 2004, the 30-year-old is moving to England from Super XV side the Auckland Blues. Weepu scored 103 points in his All Blacks career and played a leading role in New Zealand’s 2011 World Cup success. However, his decision to sign for the Oxford-based club will signal an end to his international career as the All Blacks have a policy of not selecting players based outside New Zealand. “I’m hugely excited by the opportunity of joining London Welsh and at the challenge of playing in the Premiership,” Weepu said.
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