■ Boxing
Police arrest Joe Frazier
Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier was arrested Friday and charged with assaulting a woman. The victim was described in police documents as the mother of Frazier's son, department spokesman Jim Pauley said. The 44-year-old woman was not seriously injured and refused medical treatment, police said. The 60-year-old boxing great was awaiting arraignment on charges of simple assault and reckless endangerment, police said. The 60-year-old Frazier was the world champion from 1970 to 1973, and fought Muhammad Ali in three classic heavyweight bouts, winning once and losing twice. He was also the heavyweight gold medalist at the 1964 Olympics.
■ Auto racing
Busch beat the best
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and IRL star Helio Castroneves of Brazil finished sixth and IRL champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand was eighth in the season-opening 12-car International Race of Champions Series on Friday. Ryan Newman squeezed past fellow NASCAR driver and defending IROC champion Kurt Busch 100m from the finish line to win the 40-lap, 160-kilometer event on the banked 4km oval at Daytona International Speedway. Castroneves managed to finish in the top half despite being penalized to the back of the field for passing under the yellow line eight laps from the end. Newman will go into Texas Motor Speedway on April 2 -- the second of four IROC races this season -- holding a one-point (21-20) lead over Busch. The winner in the series sponsored for the first time this season by Crown Royal will get US$1 million, while the rest of the drivers each receive US$80,000.
■ Luge
Germany wins doubles
Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch posted the two fastest times Saturday as Germany won the men's doubles event at the luge World Championships in Nagano, Japan. Leitner clocked a time of 49.279 at Nagano Spiral while Resch had a run of 49.651 for a combined time of 1:38.930. Andre Florschuetz and Torsten Wustlich, also of Germany, were second with a time of 1:39.274 while Americans Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin were third in 1:39.280. Silke Kraushaar gave Germany its second victory of the day when she won the women's singles title with a time of 1:39.611. Germany also won the team event on Friday. Barbara Niedernhuber was second in 1:39.653 while Sylke Otto was third with a time of 1:39.860 as Germany made a clean sweep of the podium. American Ashley Hayden finished sixth with a time of 1:40.450.
■ Basketball
Manute Bol charged
Former NBA center Manute Bol was charged with hitting his daughter, cutting her lip and interfering with a police officer. Bol also was injured and needed medical treatment, West Hartford Police Captain Lori Coppinger said. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center. The hospital, citing federal privacy laws, declined to say on Friday if Bol was a patient. Bol, 43, was arrested early Wednesday, police said. He was in court Thursday and is to return on Feb. 26. He also was charged with assault.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
SEMI-FINAL SWEEP: Taiwanese are to take up all four berths in the men’s doubles semi-finals, while three Taiwanese women’s doubles pairings secured spots Taiwan’s badminton ace Chou Tien-chen stayed hot as he secured a semi-final berth in the men’s singles at the US Open at Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday. Chou entered the Super 300 tournament as the top seed and breezed past Victor Lai of Canada 21-19, 21-8 in 37 minutes, advancing to the semi-finals for the second straight tournament. Earlier this month, the 35-year-old veteran finished runner-up at the Indonesia Open, becoming the oldest male shuttler to reach a Super 1000-level final. He was set to face Ayush Shetty of India last night after press time for a spot in the final. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Taiwanese
PROMISING TALENT: Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso was pleased with youngster Gonzalo’s performance and compared him to former ‘Los Blancos’ great Raul Spanish giants Real Madrid on Tuesday beat Juventus 1-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final clash against Borussia Dortmund, who edged Mexican side Monterrey. Serhou Guirassy struck twice for the German outfit as they scraped past Sergio Ramos’ side 2-1 in a tight last-16 clash in Atlanta, Georgia, and denied the former Real Madrid skipper a matchup against his former team. Youngster Gonzalo Garcia headed home his third goal of the tournament to help Madrid edge Italian side Juventus at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami earlier. It was an impressive display from Xabi Alonso’s Madrid side,
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