■OLYMPICS
IOC drops Kuwait threat
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would not suspend Kuwait on Saturday after the country committed itself to amend a local law that had threatened the autonomy of its sports organizations. The IOC had tried for two years to find a solution with authorities over the independent operation of Kuwait’s National Olympic Committee and the nation’s sports bodies but had previously said deadlines had not been respected. It had warned Kuwait it could be suspended if changes to the law were not completed by the end of the year. The IOC said late on Tuesday it received a letter from Kuwait’s social affairs and labor minister giving its commitment to review the national sports law to make it compatible with the Olympic Charter.
■BASEBALL
Red Sox retire Rice jersey
Jim Rice added another honor to his name on Tuesday when the new member of the Hall of Fame had his No. 14 uniform retired by the Boston Red Sox. Rice, inducted with Rickey Henderson at Sunday’s Cooperstown ceremonies, joins fellow Hall-of-Famers and Fenway Park left-fielders Ted Williams (9) and Carl Yastrzemski (8) among Red Sox to have their numbers retired.
■TENNIS
Nadal back in training
Rafael Nadal says treatment on his painful knees has been going well enough for him to have started training seriously, and he hoped to defend his Montreal title in two weeks. Speaking for the first time since he withdrew from Wimbledon and didn’t defend his title at the All England Club, Nadal said he had grown tired of always playing tennis with searing pain in his knees. “I had spent several months like this and when I came back from Miami [in April] it really hurt badly, especially my right knee, and the truth is that it was a different pain,” Nadal told Spanish TVE1 television on Tuesday. The former world No. 1 said he had become used to playing with pain, relying on anti-inflammatories, and decided after failing to win a fifth successive French Open that it was time to try and solve the problem. He said he had played Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Madrid with the pain (and won the first three).
■SUMO
Bulgaria honors Kotooshu
Kotooshu, the Bulgarian wrestler known as “the David Beckham of sumo,” was awarded his country’s highest state order on Tuesday for earning star status in Japan. Kotooshu, the first European to reach the rank of **ozeki, the second-highest level in sumo, was awarded the first-rank Stara Planina order by President Georgy Parvanov at a ceremony in Sofia. Parvanov hailed the 26-year-old wrestler, whose real name is Kaloyan Mahlyanov, as one of the “brightest” symbols of Bulgaria in Japan — along with Damask roses and Bulgarian yoghurt. Kotooshu recently announced his engagement to 29-year-old Japanese Asako Ando, who accompanied him on Tuesday along with his parents.
■GOLF
Ballesteros aims for Trophy
Five-times major winner Seve Ballesteros, who underwent four operations to remove a brain tumor, is aiming to recover in time to captain Europe at next year’s Royal Trophy against holders Asia. “I sincerely hope to captain the European team ... this is a competition that means a lot to me,” the 52-year-old Spaniard said in a statement released on Wednesday. The next edition will take place from Jan. 8 to Jan. 10 at the Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, east of Bangkok.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
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