■ Baseball
Court reduces sentences
A Taiwan court on Friday cut a number of sentences against 23 baseball players and trainers involved in the nation's biggest sporting scandal after hearing their appeals. The game-fixing scandal rocked baseball -- Taiwan's most popular sport -- in 1996. The next year, the 23 accused were convicted of throwing games and received jail terms of up to 2 years and 6 months. In the appeals verdict Friday, the High Court still found 22 of the 23 guilty, but cut most of their sentences, often by half. One player, Tsai Ming-hung of the Times Eagles, was acquitted because he had never set foot on the field during the games, court spokesman Wen Yao-yuan said. Tsai had been sentenced to 8 months in jail in the 1997 trial. The accused were banned from the sport after the first trial, and were forced to find other work.
■ Tennis
Martina keeps on ticking
Martina Navratilova has two perfectly good reasons to keep her stellar tennis career going: she's good, and she's always improving. So stop asking the 48-year-old champion why she is still playing. "I've been asked that question for the past five years and frankly I consider it an insult," said Navratilova, entered in the doubles draw at the Australian hardcourt championships at Royal Pines. "Women's tennis is really strong and all I can say is I'm that damn good. "I'm sorry but I really have to blow my own horn here -- I'm still that good. The ball doesn't know how old you are." Navratilova, winner of 58 Grand Slam titles, accused the media of double standards when reporting on male athletes coming back from retirement and playing well. "Mario Lemieux came back after two years and started scoring goals and all the reporters were saying, `Wow he's really good,'" Navratilova said Friday.
■ Hockey
Saku Koivu comes home
Saku Koivu has found that you can go home again. The Montreal Canadiens captain capped his Finnish League comeback with 38 seconds remaining Thursday night when he scored an empty-net goal for TPS of Turku. Koivu had a goal and assist in a 2-0 victory over Espoo 2-0 -- giving him 139 points in as many games in the league. He left home in the spring of 1995 after helping TPS to the championship, and a few weeks later led Finland to its only World Championship gold medal. Koivu was then off to the NHL. Now during the North American league's lockout, Koivu is making TPS a likely title contender again. "For long, I will remember this game, having the opportunity to play in my home town. I acknowledge the expectations and the pressure as a reality, but I hope I can enjoy this into the spring," Koivu said.
■ Athletics
Holmes made a dame
Dual Olympic gold medalist Kelly Holmes was awarded the highest royal honor when she was made a dame in Queen Elizabeth II's New Year list. Holmes joined rower Matthew Pinsent, who was knighted Friday after winning his fourth gold medal in as many Games, in a list loaded with Olympic medalists. Holmes won the 800m and 1,500m in Athens, despite being a 100-1 underdog to pull off the double. She was the first Briton to win both events since Albert Hill in Antwerp in 1920. Pinsent led Britain to victory in the coxless fours in Athens by only eighty one-hundredths of a second. Pinsent also won golds in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
BIG NAMES GONE: Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title, reaching semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and finishing second on three occasions Alexander Zverev on Tuesday breezed past Rafael Jodar to stay on course for an elusive Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Jakub Mensik halted Joao Fonseca’s scintillating run in the quarter-finals. Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, put an end to Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut, easing into the semi-finals with a 7-6, (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win. The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open. “I want to win the matches that are ahead of
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
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