■ Baseball
Suzuki extends streak
Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki pinch hit in the eighth inning of Friday's 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels and stayed in to play right field, appearing in his 361st consecutive game dating to 2004. Suzuki wasn't in the starting lineup and Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said before the game that the hardworking right fielder could use some rest. Before Friday night's game, the Mariners' leadoff hitter was batting .324 and had a major league-high 168 hits this season. His string of 360 games, which includes 209 starts, is a club record, surpassing Edgar Martinez's string of 293 in 1994-96.
■ Basketball
Mourning re-signs with Heat
Seven-time All-Star Alonzo Mourning re-signed with the NBA champion Miami Heat on Friday. "I'm very excited about re-signing with the Heat," Mourning said. "I love this organization, the fans and the whole South Florida community, and I'm happy to have the opportunity to join my teammates and defend our championship this season." Mourning, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year who has made it back from a kidney transplant, is the Heat's all-time leader in games played (491), blocked shots (1,405), free throws made (2,328) and free throws attempted (3,512). He also ranks second in 11 categories, including points (8,649) and rebounds (4,364).
■ NFL
Seau joins Patriots
The New England Patriots signed free agent linebacker Junior Seau on Friday, just four days after the 12-time Pro Bowler announced his retirement. Seau, 37, held an emotional farewell-to-the-NFL news conference on Monday in San Diego. The 1.87m, 112kg linebacker had been injured for most of the past two seasons with Miami and was released by the club in March after missing 17 games in two seasons. Seau appeared to have misgivings on Monday about retiring but said he was ready to leave the game. "I'm healthy, I can play, and there are teams out there that had interest, but they just didn't need [me]," he said. Seau was one of the NFL's top linebackers and helped the San Diego Chargers to their only Super Bowl appearance in 1995.
■ Cycling
Camenzind case reopened
A Swiss court has ordered an investigative magistrate to reopen the doping case of former road cycling world champion Oscar Camenzind, according to the Swiss news magazine Facts. The magistrate, Martin Eichenberg, confirmed the report which appeared in Facts on Thursday. The weekly said the cantonal, or state, court of Schwyz ordered Eichenberg to reopen the case more than six months after a lower court had told him to suspend it. Camenzind tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug EPO before the 2004 Athens Olympics and withdrew from the event. He was dropped by his team, Phonak, and retired shortly afterward.
■ Italy
Totti to play on
Francesco Totti said on Friday that he wants to keep playing international soccer despite hinting at retirement after Italy lifted the World Cup last month. "I am available to play for the national team again," Totti was reported by the ANSA news agency as telling new coach Roberto Donadoni. "I thought long and hard after the World Cup and I am ready to come back, but first I want to recover completely from the injury I suffered in February." The 30-year-old Roma star said after the World Cup final win over France that it was "50-50" whether or not he would carry on after his performances in Germany were hampered by an ankle injury.
■ Hong Kong
Star has second thoughts
Midfield star Cheung Sai-ho could delay his retirement to play in an Asian Cup qualifier next month, with the team eyeing a place in next year's finals, a report said yesterday. Cheung said there was a "big chance" he would play in Hong Kong's home match against Uzbekistan on Sept. 6, the South China Morning Post reported. The 31-year-old had earlier said he was to retire after Hong Kong's away match against Uzbekistan last week because he was fed up with the lack of support and respect for the team, the paper said. But the team captain had second thoughts after the thrilling match in Tashkent, in which Hong Kong recovered from two goals down to earn a draw, the paper added. "If I do stay with the Hong Kong team for another game, I am doing it out of respect for my coach, Lai Sun-cheung," Cheung was quoted as saying.
■ Spain
Real move for Diarra
Real Madrid are set to sign Lyon's highly rated Malian international midfielder Mahamadou Diarra after successful talks, the French champions said on Friday. Diarra is set to move to the Spanish giants this week for what some press reports say will be a fee of 28 million euros (US$36 million). The 25-year-old is expected to sign for Real in the coming days, if he agrees personal terms. Diarra lashed out at Lyon in the French press this week saying the club were blocking his potential "dream move" and declaring that he would not play for Lyon again. His outburst seems to have payed dividends. The clubs held talks on Friday after which Lyon agreed to allow Diarra to depart for the Spanish capital.
■ Italy
Juve appeal fails
Juventus has failed in its bid to convince Italian soccer federation bosses that their demotion to Serie B, Italy's second tier soccer league, should be overturned. Juventus, one of several clubs sanctioned for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal which rocked the country shortly before Italy's World Cup triumph, met with bosses from the Italian football federation (FIGC) in Rome. However, this latest appeal has led to nothing, and a statement by the Turin club said they would now hold an internal meeting tomorrow to study which future direction to take.
■ England
Chelsea signs `Cannibal'
English champions Chelsea bolstered their defense on the eve of the Premiership season on Friday when they bought Dutch international Khalid Boulahrouz from Hamburg. Boulahrouz, who can play center back or left back, was known as "Khalid the Cannibal" by Hamburg fans in honor of his aggressive tackling style. The 25-year-old, for whom coach Jose Mourinho has paid an undisclosed fee, was due in London this weekend to undergo a medical and discuss personal terms.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when
RSS