■RALLYING
Coma mulls pulling out
Defending motorbike champion Marc Coma was considering withdrawing from the Dakar Rally on Saturday after he was hit with a six-hour penalty for illegally changing a tire during Friday’s racing. Meanwhile, quad motorbike leader Marcos Patronelli and his second-placed brother Alejandro Patronelli both withdrew on Saturday, incensed that Marcos was penalized three hours for changing a tire on Friday, which he denied. The Argentine brothers led the quads by more than three hours. Coma, the winner in 2006 and last year, was punished by race stewards for changing to a new tire before the start of the second half of the 600km seventh stage through the Atacama Desert, from Iquique back to Antofagasta.
■CRICKET
Tahir withdrawn from squad
South Africa have withdrawn Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir from their squad for Thursday’s fourth and final Test against England because of fears over his eligibility. Cricket South Africa media officer Michael Owen-Smith said on Saturday the 30-year-old had been pulled out to avoid any problems. Tahir, born in Lahore, married a South African woman and became a naturalized citizen last year. “Imran Tahir’s permanent resident papers have not come through yet and Cricket South Africa would rather be absolutely certain of his eligibility before playing him,” Owen-Smith said. “We have to be 100 percent certain before putting him in a national squad.”
■ATHLETICS
Bekele outpaced by Kenyans
Ethiopia distance star Kenenisa Bekele could only manage fourth place in the 9km Edinburgh cross-country race as he suffered a rare defeat on Saturday. Joseph Ebuya led a Kenyan clean sweep of the podium places as Bekele, returning to the snow-covered Holyrood Park venue for the first time since winning his sixth World Championship on the course in 2008, finished well behind the leading trio. “I got killed by three Kenyans,” said Bekele, the reigning Olympic champion at both 5,000m and 10,000m, after Ebuya, Titus Mbishei and Eliud Kipchoge came in ahead of him. Better news for Ethiopia came in the women’s race, where Tirunesh Dibaba outpaced her opponents on the final lap to claim victory on the 6km course.
■FOOTBALL
Lynch accused of stealing
Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch has been accused of taking US$20 from a woman at a Buffalo-area restaurant. The alleged victim is the wife of a police officer who reported the Dec. 7 incident the following day and was then interviewed by police on Wednesday, the Buffalo News reported on Saturday. “She’s terrified of him. He threatened her girlfriend, who tried to retrieve the money after he robbed my wife,” the woman’s husband, William Crawford, told the newspaper. “He thinks he’s above the law because of his status as an athlete.” Crawford, who didn’t want to give his wife’s name because of safety concerns, said the incident occurred at a TGI Friday’s restaurant where the police sergeant’s wife and her girlfriend had stopped for dinner.
■BASKETBALL
Gordon nets landmark point
Ben Gordon of the Detroit Pistons scored the 10 millionth point in NBA history on Saturday with a jump shot with 3 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first half of Detroit’s 104-94 loss to Philadelphia. The first NBA points were scored by New York’s Ossie Schectman on Nov. 1, 1946, at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
DAY OF BLOWOUTS: Elsewhere, the Lakers clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 pounding of the under-strength Houston Rockets The Denver Nuggets on Friday improved their playoff position, with a triple double from Nikola Jokic helping them to a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Serbian put up 26 points, 13 assists and 16 rebounds. The triple-double performance, his 34th this season, ensured that he will finish the regular season as just the third NBA player to average a triple double across an entire season. The win meant the Nuggets improved to 49-32 on the season and gave them a real chance of grabbing fourth place and home-court advantage in the playoffs. Aaron Gordon top scored with 33 points for Denver,
RSS