BASEBALL
Ichiro to stay with Miami
Miami Marlins’ Japanese outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who owns the Major League Baseball record for consecutive 200-hit seasons, has signed a one-year deal to stay with the team for next year’s season, the team said on Tuesday. Suzuki, who in 2001 became the first Japanese position player in MLB history, will open next season 65 hits shy of becoming the 30th member of the 3,000-hit club. The 41-year-old outfielder is coming off his first campaign with the Marlins in which he had 91 hits in 398 at-bats along with a .229 batting average, 21 runs batted in and 11 stolen bases. Suzuki made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners and went on to win the American League’s Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. He also opened his MLB career with 10 consecutive seasons of more than 200 hits.
SOCCER
US beat Panama 4-0
Sluggish in the first half, the US needed some kind of catalyst. So the team called on Jerome Kiesewetter and Jordan Morris, ending their nights off. Kiesewetter sparked the offense with a goal and an assist in the second half, and the US beat Panama 4-0 in CONCACAF Olympic qualifying in Commerce City, Colorado, on a rainy Tuesday. Already through to the semi-final round, the US did not have much to play for and rested several of their starters. Scoreless at halftime, coach Andi Herzog turned to his bench for a lift, sending in Kiesewetter and Morris. The US caught a break early in the second half when Panama defender Fidel Escobar knocked in a crossing shot. Kiesewetter then scored about three minutes later and Morris right after that. Luis Gil wrapped up the scoring by converting a penalty-kick, helping the US advance out of Group A with a 3-0 record. Canada finished second.
BASEBALL
Arroyo’s yacht stolen, sold
A former personal assistant for Bronson Arroyo secretly sold the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher’s yacht and kept the money, authorities in Florida said on Tuesday. Anthony Acosta, 38, of Tampa, Florida, was charged with grand theft and forgery and is being held in Hillsborough County Jail on a US$50,000 bond, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in a statement. Acosta is accused of forging Arroyo’s signature on a bill of sale document and selling his 2006 Concept Boat to an unaware buyer in Opa-locka, Florida, pocketing the US$22,000 from the transaction in 2013, according to an arrest warrant. However, his plan unraveled when the buyer learned of a US$100,000 lien still on the boat and contacted Arroyo, the warrant said. Arroyo had fired Acosta as his personal assistant in 2012 because he made mistakes, was unreliable and took prescription drugs, according to the arrest warrant. An All-Star in 2006 while pitching for the Cincinnati Reds, Arroyo currently plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but is on the disabled list.
CRICKET
Warne, Tendulkar in US
Australian Shane Warne and India’s Sachin Tendulkar will captain two All-Star sides in a three-match Twenty20 series in the US in a bid to spark interest in a sport alien to most Americans. The ICC-sanctioned matches will be played on drop-in pitches at major baseball fields in New York, Houston and Los Angeles next month, with plenty of superstar talent on show. Among the throng of cricketing greats signed up are Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Glenn McGrath and Brad Haddin.
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