BASKETBALL
Lin re-aggravates injury
Brooklyn Nets star Jeremy Lin could be sidelined for up to five more weeks after aggravating a hamstring injury that has wrecked his season, the team announced on Monday. “During the course of his rehab, Jeremy re-aggravated his strained left hamstring and will be out approximately three to five weeks as he continues to work towards a full recovery,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “We understand and appreciate Jeremy’s competitive desire to get back on the court with his teammates. However, we are going to be cautious with his rehab in order to ensure that he is at full strength once he returns.” Lin suffered an injury on Nov. 2 last year, which left him sidelined for 17 games until he returned on Dec. 12. However, he strained his hamstring again two weeks later and has not played since. Lin has played just 12 of Brooklyn’s 43 games this season since signing a three-year, US$38.3 million deal in July last year. He has averaged 13.9 points, 5.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds.
GOLF
McIlroy drops out of Dubai
Rory McIlroy has pulled out of next week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic with a rib injury, the event’s promoter said on Monday. “Obviously, we are disappointed, but we fully understand the situation. Our greatest concern is Rory’s health,” Golf In Dubai CEO and vice chairman Mohamed Juma Buamaim said. The two-time event champion suffered the injury earlier this month during the first round of the South African Open Championship. Although the Northern Irishman completed that tournament, finishing second, a subsequent scan revealed a rib stress fracture and he missed last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
OLYMPICS
Xi calls for sustainability
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday stressed the need for sustainability and post-event planning during a visit to ski venues for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Xi’s trip to Chongli in Hebei Province marks the latest bid to ramp up enthusiasm for the Games, which China hopes to leverage to promote winter sports in the country. Beijing’s urban center is to host indoor events such as ice hockey and figure skating, largely in venues left over from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. However, a lack of mountains and natural snow requires that ski events be held in Chongli, as well as Beijing’s rural Yanqing County.
SOCCER
Papy Djilobodji faces ban
Sunderland defender Papy Djilobodji risks a four-match ban after being charged with violent conduct following an incident unseen by match officials, but caught on video, during his side’s defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday last week. Djilobodji’s arm appeared to make contact with West Brom midfielder Darren Fletcher’s face late in a game that the visitors lost 2-0. Djilobodji, signed in August last year from Chelsea, was sent off earlier in the season against Hull City and would face a four-match ban, instead of the usual three, if found guilty. A lengthy ban would be bad news for Sunderland manager David Moyes, whose side are bottom of the Premier League and struggling with injuries and absences.
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