■ CRICKET
ICC error saved Harbhajan
An administrative mistake by the International Cricket Council (ICC) saved Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh from a possible suspension, the judge who heard his case said yesterday. Harbhajan was fined half his match fee after pleading guilty to using offensive language against Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during the second Test in Sydney earlier this month. However, New Zealand High Court judge John Hansen said Harbhajan might have received a tougher penalty had the ICC correctly informed him about all his prior convictions. Hansen said the ICC told him Harbhajan had only one prior offense, but after he had handed down his penalty, he discovered the Indian spinner had four previous offenses. The most serious of these occurred in South Africa in 2001 when Harbhajan was given a suspended sentence for showing dissent and trying to influence an umpire. "If I had been aware of the serious transgression in November 2001 I would have required more extensive submissions as to the offense in mitigation which could have led to a different penalty," Hansen wrote in his 49-page judgment released yesterday.
■ BASEBALL
Exhibition game to be last
The US Baseball Hall of Fame Game, an annual tradition in Cooperstown for more than six decades, will end after this year's contest between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres. Hall of Fame officials say Major League Baseball decided keeping the game was too difficult because of the complexities of the major league schedule and "all its inherent challenges." The first Hall of Fame Game was in 1940, and its the last surviving in-season exhibition game on the major league schedule. This year's game is slated for June 16.
■ RUGBY UNION
All Blacks to support US
The US rugby team will get help from one of the best and well-organized outfits in the sport, the New Zealand All Blacks. The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) said yesterday it had signed a five-year memorandum of agreement with USA Rugby to promote rugby in the US and look into joint sponsorships and merchandising agreements. "The rugby world wants to see the game grow in the United States and we're taking concrete steps to help USA Rugby," NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said in a statement. Tew said as a first step, the NZRU will give coaching background and other resources to USA Rugby at no charge, supporting the US union's youth, referee and coaching development programs. The two groups also plan to "explore opportunities for high-profile matches" in the US as well as age-grade competition between the two countries. No further details on where or when the matches would be played was provided.
■ SOCCER
Galaxyto visit Asia
David Beckham will lead the Los Angeles Galaxy into South Korea and China in March as part of a pre-season Asia tour announced on Tuesday by the Major League Soccer club. Galaxy will meet FC Seoul on March 1 at the World Cup stadium and visit Shanghai on March 5 to face a China All-Star Union side of young talents, each stop capitalizing on Beckham's incredible popularity in Asia. Manchester United and Real Madrid also made several Asian tours with Beckham in the line-up. "These are important games in our club's preparation for the MLS season and I expect fans in Seoul and Shanghai will remember the LA Galaxy visiting their cities for a very long time," Galaxy assistant general manager Tom Payne said.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
The Philippines curling team has been rocking it in Harbin, claiming the tropical nation’s first Asian Winter Games medal yesterday with a victory in the men’s final against South Korea. The team of Marc Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and alternate Benjo Delarmente took gold with a 5-3 win at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. The Philippines Olympic Committee was quick to celebrate with a post on Instagram to mark the historic gold. “This is the first-ever medal for the Philippines at the Asian Winter Games, and the highest achievement for a Southeast Asian athlete in the Games’ history! What an incredible
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7),