■ Baseball
Hsieh comments on IOC
Premier Frank Hsieh said Friday that although baseball and softball have been eliminated from the Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Taiwan should not be discouraged. The premier made the remarks after the IOC made the decision during a special vote in Singapore on all 28 sports that make up the Olympic program. The decision will affect the 2012 Games just awarded to London. Hsieh said that it is a bit disappointing to learn that baseball and softball, in which Taiwan excels, will no longer be part of the Olympics, but he said that there are more than 10 sports that Taiwan has unlimited room for development. Chen Chuan-shou, chairman of the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, also said that the development of baseball will not be affected by the IOC's decision.
■ Basketball
Stotts to coach the Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks hired former assistant Terry Stotts as their new head coach on Friday. Stotts, an assistant with the Golden State Warriors last season, coached the Atlanta Hawks for 1 seasons. He went 52-85 in Atlanta after replacing Lon Kruger in 2002-2003. He also served under George Karl as an assistant for four seasons in Milwaukee. Stotts replaces Terry Porter, who was unexpectedly fired on June 22, days before the Bucks selected Australian Andrew Bogut with the top pick in the NBA draft. General manager Larry Harris said at the time that he wanted an experienced coach, and attention immediately focused on Flip Saunders and Doug Collins. Collins withdrew his name from consideration to stay in his television analyst job, and Saunders, who is due US$5.5 million from the Minnesota Timberwolves next season, apparently is waiting to see what happens with Larry Brown in Detroit
■ Auto Racing
Sperafico replaces Bremer
Ronnie Bremer was replaced by Brazilian driver Alex Sperafico in the HVM team on Friday despite finishing in the top 10 in three of his five Champ Car World Series races. Bremer couldn't produce any sponsorship money. Sperafico has competed in 10 Champ Car events, and earned his first top-10 finish at last year's Grand Prix of Toronto. His cousin, Ricardo, drives for the Dale Coyne team. "This is a fantastic opportunity for me," Sperafico said. "HVM is known for their professionalism, they consistently prepare fast and reliable race cars, and I am honored and excited to represent them in the Champ Car World Series. This is the best opportunity I have had in my professional racing career and I intend to maximize this chance."
■ Olympics
IOC elects new officials
Members from Greece and Japan won elections in Singapore on Saturday to become vice presidents of the International Olympic Committee, while Singapore's delegate made it onto the executive board. In a surprise, Greece's Lambis Nikolaou defeated senior Australian member Kevan Gosper in the final round 49-45 to win one of the four VP spots on the final day of the IOC's session in Singapore. Nikolaou's victory was seen as a gesture of gratitude for Greece's highly successful staging of the 2004 Olympics. "I'm overwhelmed," Nikolaou said, choking back tears. "This an honor for my country, Greece, which held exceptional games. We managed to produce dream games."
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
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