■BASEBALL
Dodgers to visit Taiwan
The Los Angeles Dodgers, a US Major League Baseball team, are scheduled to visit Taiwan in March for two exhibition games, a Taipei-based report said yesterday. The Dodgers will play the matches against a local professional team on March 13 and March 14, the United Daily News reported, citing Jim Small, vice president of MLB Asia. The paper quoted Small as saying that he hoped the Dodgers’ visit would give a morale boost to fans of Taiwan’s favorite sport, which has been hit by a string of game-fixing scandals. Taiwanese authorities last year launched an investigation into the latest allegations which led to the arrest of six bookies and former players.
■FOOTBALL
NFL going to London, again
The Denver Broncos will meet San Francisco in a National Football League game at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 31 and the league might play another game this year in the UK, the NFL announced on Friday. The Broncos-49ers clash will mark the fourth year in a row that a regular-season US football game will be staged in London, the first three having drawn sell-out crowds of more than 80,000 spectators. “We have seen the extraordinary passion that exists for NFL football in the UK,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.
■BASEBALL
Court fines Yankees
A court in the Dominican Republic ordered the New York Yankees to pay more than US$750,000 to Carlos Rios, their former director of Latin American scouting, for what it ruled was his unlawful firing. In court papers examined on Friday by The Associated Press, Judge Alexis Gomez Geraldino found in favor of Rios, who was fired in August 2008 for allegedly skimming US$100,000 in bonus money from Yankees prospect Kelvin De Leon. The judge said the accusations against Rios were based on rumor and ordered the Yankees to pay Rios US$762,878 in damages.
■HOCKEY
Hockey alleges sex abuse
Police are investigating a sexual assault criminal complaint by former National Hockey League star Theo Fleury against his former junior hockey coach, Graham James. Fleury, whose NHL comeback bid with Calgary at age 41 failed last year, wrote in his autobiography last year that he was repeatedly abused while playing youth hockey in the 1980s. On his Web site, the former Calgary Flames star said on Thursday that he would file a complaint against James. Police said their probe would include working with US authorities and across Canada. Fleury, whose career was dogged by drugs and alcohol, played in the NHL from 1987 through 2003. In 1994 he briefly played for Tampere of Finland when the NHL missed nearly half a season in a labor dispute. He also played for the Belfast Giants of Britain’s Elite League in the 2005-2006 season.
■TENNIS
Aussies to play Taiwan
Australia will play Taiwan in their Asia Oceania Zone Group One Davis Cup tie at Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open, Tennis Australia (TA) said yesterday. TA said it would be using the outdoor Margaret Court Arena for the first time to host the Davis Cup tie from March 5 to March 7. Australia won their only Davis Cup tie last year, but remain in Asia Oceania Zone Group One after withdrawing from the May tie in India because of security concerns. One-time power Australia have won the Davis Cup 28 times, second only to the US, with 32.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
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