■ATHLETICS
Ethiopian runner arrested
Police in Ethiopia confirmed on Saturday they had arrested former Olympic bronze medalist Fita Bayisa after he allegedly shot his wife in a row over property. The 36-year-old athlete, who won bronze in the 5,000m at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, was detained last Monday hours after the incident took place in Alem Gena — 6km west of Addis Ababa. A local newspaper said the couple, who have five children, were embroiled in a legal battle over the ownership of a kindergarten school. The paper said the un-named wife remained in a stable condition in a hospital.
■BASEBALL
Indians make pro debuts
Two former aspiring cricket players who won a reality show in India have made their professional baseball debuts. Left-hander Rinku Singh and right-hander Dinesh Patel, neither of whom had heard of baseball before appearing on The Million Dollar Arm, each got a strikeout for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Rookie-level minor league team. Singh, who came in first on the show, allowed one run and two hits in one inning of work, throwing 19 pitches. Patel, who was second, threw eight pitches in a scoreless inning. The show tried to find cricket players who could throw the most pitches 85mph or faster for strikes.
■BASKETBALL
FIBA orders payments
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) have ordered Bulgarian champions Lukoil Academic to pay two former players nearly US$285,000 in unpaid salaries and lawsuit expenses, the club said. Former Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Stevin Smith and Serbian guard Nenad Djoric filed for compensation over delays in salary payments after leaving the club last year. The 17-time Bulgarian champions must pay Smith US$183,033 and Djoric US$101,887, with FIBA ruling that Lukoil were not allowed to sign new players until the payments had been made. Lukoil sporting director Sasho Vezenkov said the club would appeal the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
■BOXING
Moreno retains title
Anselmo Moreno of Panama retained his WBA bantamweight title Saturday with a split decision over Frenchman Mahyar Monshipour in Poitiers, France. Moreno (26-1-1) kept his composure as Monshipour pressured strongly between the eighth and 10th rounds. Two of the judges scored the bout 116-113 and 116-112 in favor of Moreno, while the third gave the fight to Monshipour 115-113. Moreno, whose only loss was in 2002, started strongly, catching Monshipour with a left hook in the first round and a several sharp jabs in the second. The Panamanian got caught with a couple of shots, but used his speed and longer reach to keep Monshipour at bay.
■SAILING
Alinghi unveil catamaran
Alinghi of Switzerland has confirmed it will use a giant catamaran when it defends the America’s Cup against bitter US rival BMW Oracle Racing early next year. The catamaran is 27m long on the waterline. The high-tech craft was built in Villeneuve, Switzerland, and will be launched by helicopter on Lake Geneva this coming week before undergoing testing. Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing of San Francisco are scheduled to meet in a best-of-3 series in February in massive multihulls. Alinghi gets to pick the venue. It reportedly is considering Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where its catamaran could excel in light wind and flat water.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
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