SOCCER
Taiwan eye Spanish player
A professional Spanish soccer player of Taiwanese descent is expected to join Taiwan’s national soccer team soon, according to the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA). Yaki Yan, a Spanish national who can represent Taiwan because he was born to a Taiwanese father, has been a defender for third division Spanish team Club Deportivo El Cotillo since 2012. He passed a tryout organized by the CTFA in Taipei on Monday, the association said. CTFA secretary-general Chiu Yi-wen said Taiwan has been looking around the world for outstanding soccer players in the hope of boosting the overall strength of the national team. Chiu praised the 25-year-old Yan as a player who moves well, shows good judgement when taking on opponents, and has a very good feel for the game. He has good size for a defender, and he would greatly improve the back line of Taiwan’s national team, Chiu said. Yan’s first action with the national team could come in the East Asia Cup next month if the paperwork with regard to his admission is completed by then.
SOCCER
Detention order extended
Singapore has extended detention orders that allow it to hold four people accused of being involved in a global soccer match-fixing syndicate without charge, the Singaporean Ministry of Home Affairs said yesterday. The four Singaporeans were arrested last year, together with 10 others, for their alleged roles in trying to rig soccer matches around the world and have been detained for the past year. One of those detained is local businessman Tan Seet Eng, also known as Dan Tan, who has been accused by Interpol of being the head of the match-fixing syndicate.
SWIMMING
Camera thief fired
Japanese swimmer Naoya Tomita has been suspended for 18 months by the country’s swimming federation and fired from his job after stealing a camera at the Asian Games in South Korea. Tomita was expelled from the Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 Games in Incheon and told he had to pay his own way home after admitting to stealing a camera valued at 8 million won (US$7,600) from a journalist working for a South Korean news agency. A former world champion, Tomita won a gold medal in breaststroke at the Asian Games in 2010, but failed to win any medals this time. He was caught on closed-circuit television stealing the camera after the journalist reported his gear missing. Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that Tomita had been suspended by the Japanese Swimming Federation until March 31, 2016. His employer, sports apparel manufacturer Descente, has fired the 25-year-old swimmer, Kyodo said.
BASEBALL
Dodgers pitcher retires
Injury-ravaged Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher and former World Series MVP Josh Beckett announced his retirement on Tuesday, confirming the decision in an interview with the Major League Baseball Web site. On the same day the Dodgers were ousted from the playoffs by the St Louis Cardinals, the right-hander told MLB.com that his ailing hip had prompted him to end his 14-season career. The 34-year-old, who was the 2003 World Series MVP for the Florida Marlins when they beat the New York Yankees, threw a no-hitter in May, but was on the disabled list by August due to a left hip impingement and did not play again this season. He is expected to undergo surgery in May next year to repair a torn hip labrum, but said the recovery process will keep him out of action for too long to consider a return.
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