OLYMPICS
Koreas bid for joint team
The two Koreas are to pursue a plan to form a joint artistic gymnastics team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Seoul’s Korea Gymnastics Association (KGA) said. Yonhap reported that KGA officials are to meet their North Korean counterparts and consider the proposal at the Oct. 25 to Nov. 3 World Championships in Doha. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) is also keen to help sports exchanges between the neighbors, the report said. “An FIG executive meeting will be held in Pyongyang next January,” Yonhap quoted an unnamed KGA official as saying.
ICE HOCKEY
Lehtera probed in drug ring
The NHL on Thursday said it is investigating Philadelphia Flyers forward Jori Lehtera after a report that he is being questioned in connection with a drug bust in his native Finland. Finnish news agency MTV on Wednesday reported that Lehtera is connected with an investigation into a cocaine ring. Lehtera’s lawyer, Ari Nieminen, said no charges have been filed against Lehtera. Nieminen said he could not comment on specific details of the case, but expected the police briefing to come yesterday. “We have spoken with Jori Lehtera and the league office regarding the reports out of Finland, and will reserve any further comment on the matter at this time,” Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said.
BOXING
HBO cancels boxing
HBO is walking away from professional boxing after 45 years of live fight programming, the network said on Thursday. HBO’s long association with the sport began in 1973, when it carried George Foreman’s knockout of reigning heavyweight world champion Joe Frazier. The network pioneered modern pay-per-view coverage of boxing. “Going forward into 2019, we will be pivoting away from programming live boxing on HBO,” HBO Sports said in a statement. “As always, we will remain open to looking at events that fit our programming mix. This could include boxing, just not for the foreseeable future.”
FOOTBALL
Panthers sign Eric Reid
The Carolina Panthers signed safety Eric Reid, it announced on Thursday, after the player spent more than six months as a free agent. The first player to join then-teammate Colin Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem in 2016, Reid in May filed a collusion grievance against the NFL as he remained unsigned. The grievance remains active, despite the Panthers deal, reports said. “This is strictly a football decision,” Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said.
CRICKET
Christmas matches mulled
The last barrier to a 365-day professional sporting calendar in Australia looks set to come down with a report in the Australian yesterday saying cricketers had agreed to play Twenty20 matches on Christmas Day. The paper published a leaked e-mail from the Australian Cricketers Association telling player agents they had agreed to stage Big Bash League matches on Dec. 25. The agreement has provisos for players to opt out of matches for religious belief and Cricket Australia indicated it would definitely not happen this year.
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