■ FORMULA ONE
Singapore to host night race
Singapore will host its first Formula One race next season -- and it will be the sport's first at night. The World Motor Sport Council on Wednesday released the F1 schedule for next year, and Singapore was listed as the 15th event on the 18-race calendar. It will be held on a street circuit on Sept. 28. The season will begin in Melbourne, Australia, on March 13. The calendar also includes 10 races in Europe, along with others in Malaysia, Bahrain, Canada, Japan, China and Brazil.
■ FOOTBALL
NFL bolsters medical fund
The NFL added US$10 million to its medical fund for retired players on Wednesday, designating the money for joint replacement surgery, cardiovascular screening and assisted living. The sum will be added to a US$7 million fund agreed upon in July by the league and its players' union. It will be supplemented by money from player fines, contribution from the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and other retired players groups. This is the latest step in a dispute concerning retired players and their pensions. Last year, a group of prominent retirees targeted Gene Upshaw, the NFLPA's executive director, for paying too much attention to current players and not enough to former players. In May, the NFL, the NFLPA, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NFL alumni association formed what was dubbed "The Alliance" to help retired players. Two months later, commissioner Roger Goodell, Upshaw and 11 retired players met in Washington and announced a US$7 million fund for medical needs.
■ FORMULA ONE
Spyker to change its name
The Spyker team will be renamed Force India in the next Formula One season. The World Motor Sport council allowed the name change at a meeting on Wednesday. The team, based in Silverstone, England, was bought by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol earlier this month. Mallya and Mol are the third owners in two years for the former Jordan team. The Midland group took over in 2005, before selling to Spyker in September last year. Adrian Sutil was the most successful driver for Spyker this season with one point for the team to finish last in the constructors' championship. The other Spyker drivers -- Sakon Yamamoto, Christian Albers and Markus Winkelhock -- finished in the final three places in the standings. Albers was fired in July because of commercial difficulties. He was first replaced by Albers, then Yamamoto.
■ BASKETBALL
Heat swap Walker for Davis
The Miami Heat shipped discontented Antoine Walker to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Ricky Davis on Wednesday as part of a five-player swap between the NBA teams. The Heat also received veteran center Mark Blount, and the Timberwolves acquired forwards Michael Doleac and Wayne Simien along with a conditional first-round draft pick. Walker, 31, joins his fifth team since the beginning of the 2003-2004 season. Although he helped the Heat to the NBA championship last year, Walker never seemed quite at home in Miami, battling injury and weight problems. He clashed with coach Pat Riley and served a brief team-imposed suspension last season over his body-fat measurements, which were outside team limits.
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
TECH ISSUES: Before Sinner’s match against Diallo the lights went out at the courts, and during it the electronic line-calling system partly failed and an alarm sounded Jannik Sinner on Monday ignored technical issues interruptions and a blaring alarm to defeat Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) on a day of distractions at the Cincinnati Open. The top-seeded defending champion got down to business against the 35th-ranked Canadian, who was plagued by eight first-set double faults and 49 unforced errors in the match as he faced the best in the world. Sinner recovered smoothly from an early break down and had his hands full on his way into the fourth round, sending over an ace on match point after saving a set point in the tiebreaker. Play was stopped briefly with
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