■ Squash
Tycoon offers cash rewards
A fan in Hong Kong is dangling a HK$750,000 (US$96,000) carrot under the noses of the territory's squash players as an incentive to do well at the Asian Games in Doha next month. Businessman Jactino Tong Man-leung said he would match the Hong Kong Sports Institute's (HKSI) incentive awards scheme in an attempt to encourage excellence. "I think it's time to arouse the interest of Hong Kong people and pay tribute to our sports heroes," Tong told the South China Morning Post. "A lot of hard work and effort is required for an athlete to win a medal at an international event like the Asian Games, and if they are able to make it, they should be recognized by the community and rewarded in tangible fashion." Hong Kong's best squash prospect is defending champion Rebecca Chiu Wing-yin. Should she successfully defend her crown, she will get HK$250,000 from the HKSI and the same from Tong. Her work is cut out for her, though, with Malaysian world champion Nicol David also in the field. Tong, a property market investor, said he hoped other individuals and companies would follow his lead.
■ Soccer
Coach refused Iranian visa
South Korea's Iranian-born assistant coach Afshin Ghotbi has been denied an entry visa to Iran ahead of today's Asian Cup qualifier, the Korea Football Association (KFA) said. Ghotbi, who left Iran in his early teens and now has US citizenship, has joined up with the team in Dubai and will try to get a visa before they move on to Tehran for the game. "The Iranian Embassy in Seoul notified us that a visa for Ghotbi was not issued, without giving a specific reason," Yonhap news agency quoted Lee Won-jae, a spokesman for the KFA, as saying yesterday. "He might have been denied because of his US citizenship, even though he was born in Iran. If he is unable to enter Iran in the end, we will have to consider protesting to the Asia Football Confederation," he said.
■ Soccer
Police to question Rooney
England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will be questioned by police investigating an early morning scuffle outside a nightclub last month. Greater Manchester Police said on Monday that they would interview the 21-year-old Rooney over allegations a photographer was assaulted outside the Panacea nightclub in downtown Manchester on Oct. 15. Police said Rooney was not arrested and the photographer did not require medical treatment.
■ Baseball
Red Sox aim for Matsuzaka
The Boston Red Sox won negotiation rights for Japanese star pitcher Daisuka Matsuzaka for US$42 million, ESPN reported on Monday, saying the bid was far more than any Major League Baseball rival. The Red Sox have frustrated several other clubs by winning the secret bidding for the chance to negotiate a Matsuzaka deal. Matsuzaka was due to learn this morning in Japan whether the Seibu Lions have accepted the bid for him. The amount of the bid was sent to Japanese baseball officials last week, and if the Lions accept, the winning US bidder will be disclosed. If they refuse, the Lions will keep Matsuzaka but lose the king's ransom of money the Red Sox are paying.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
The Taoyuan Pauian Pilots last night lost their East Asia Super League (EASL) championship game against Japan’s Hiroshima Dragonflies 72-68. They on Friday secured Taiwan’s first-ever spot in an EASL final with a 71-64 comeback victory over Japan’s Ryukyu Golden Kings. In what the EASL official Web site described as an “upset,” Pilots forward Lu Chun-hsiang on Friday asserted his stardom in Macau by scoring a game-high 24 points, with four players in both teams reaching double figures. The win was also the first time a Taiwanese franchise has defeated a Japanese team in the EASL Final Four. “I was moved
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