GOLF
Bae faces military issue
The burgeoning USPGA Tour career of South Korean golfer Bae Sang-moon appears on hold after the 28-year-old was ordered to return home to complete military service. Bae, who has won twice on the PGA Tour, had his overseas travel permit extension request rejected by the South Korean Military Manpower Administration, the Yonhap news agency reported on Monday, quoting his mother. The world No. 84, who has qualified to compete in the US Masters in April, must return to South Korea at the end of January or he could risk criminal charges as his current permit expires in the coming days, his mother added. All South Korean men between 18 and 35 must complete two years of military service, with the country still technically at war with North Korea after a peace treaty went unsigned following the 1950-1953 Korean War. Bae, who won the Frys.Com Open in October, is the highest ranked South Korean golfer and would be expected to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016 when the sport makes its return to the Olympics.
BASKETBALL
Prices rise on coach rumor
The prospect of spotting Jim Harbaugh, reported to be on the brink of becoming the University of Michigan’s next football coach, has caused ticket prices to more than double for the school’s basketball game tonight. Harbaugh, 51, who mutually agreed to part ways with the San Francisco 49ers following four National Football League seasons and a Super Bowl appearance last year, will be introduced today at his Ann Arbor, Michigan, alma mater, ESPN reported, citing a person who spoke with the school’s top boosters. The university issued a statement late yesterday saying interim athletic director Jim Hackett would have a news conference today at noon “to make a major announcement regarding Michigan football.” The average resale price paid in the past few days for a ticket to the Wolverines Big Ten conference basketball opener against Illinois was US$116, more than twice the US$48 average paid last week, according to secondary market ticket aggregator SeatGeek.
YACHTING
‘Wild Rose’ wins handicap
The Wild Rose was yesterday named the overall winner of the Sydney to Hobart race, following doubts about the results after some boats diverted to search for a crashed light plane. Supermaxi Wild Oats XI on Sunday won a record eighth line honors title, becoming the most successful yacht in the history of the 628 nautical mile (1,163km) competition when it crossed the line in 2 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes and 26 seconds late on Monday. Wild Rose, which was also formerly named Wild Oats, won the handicap honors with a corrected race time of 3 days, 10 hours, 47 minutes and 43 seconds. The handicap honors take into account the size, weight and length of each boat and the time they took to complete the race.
SKI JUMPING
Kraft outpoints Cup leader
Stefan Kraft of Austria won the opening event of ski jumping’s Four Hills tour in Oberstdorf, Germany, on Monday after it was postponed for a day because of bad weather conditions. Kraft soared 136.5m for the first-round lead and held his nerve with a jump of 129m in the second. He finished with 291.9 points, 6.9 more than compatriot Michael Hayboeck, who jumped 137.5m and 132.5m. Hayboeck took the overall World Cup lead by 1 point from Norway’s Anders Fannemel, who placed sixth with 270.7 points. Slovenia’s Peter Prevc was third, with 283.9 points.
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