SOCCER
Pinola sorry for spitting
Argentine midfielder Javier Pinola has apologized to German star Bastian Schweinsteiger for spitting at him during a Bundesliga match. The pair clashed repeatedly during Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win over Nuremberg at Munich’s Allianz Arena on Sunday when Pinola spat at Schweinsteiger during the first half. Pinola has apologized to Schweinsteiger, but the Argentinian is still likely to be fined and could also be banned for the incident. “Pinola will be given a fine, which will hurt him,” said Nuremberg manager Martin Bader, with Bild claiming it will be around 15,000 euros (US$20,200).
FOOTBALL
NFL may get bigger squads
The NFL Players Association wants two bye weeks and bigger squads before it accepts the league’s proposed 18-game regular season. A person familiar with the negotiations that the union’s counter proposal also includes a potential expansion of practice squad size and a two-thirds reduction in off-season workouts. The person spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the details. The owners want to play 18 regular-season and two preseason games instead of the current breakdown of 16 and four. That’s one issue to be hashed out during the collective bargaining negotiations between the league and the union. The current agreement expires in March, raising fears of a potential lockout.
BOXING
Legal woes hit Mayweather
Police in Las Vegas say a security guard is accusing Floyd Mayweather Jr of poking him in the face several times and threatening him over parking violations outside Mayweather’s home. Las Vegas police officer Marcus Martin said on Tuesday that Mayweather refused to speak with police called to his home after the confrontation on Monday evening. Martin says a misdemeanor battery report was taken and is being submitted for possible prosecution. The security guard told police that Mayweather has been in an ongoing dispute with homeowner association guards over parking outside his home.
BOXING
Margarito surgery successful
Antonio Margarito underwent successful right orbital bone surgery at Methodist Hospital on Tuesday, three days after taking a punishing beating at the hands of Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao. Margarito was kept overnight at the hospital before being released yesterday. Pacquiao won a unanimous 12-round decision over Margarito on Saturday for their World Boxing Council super welterweight title bout in nearby Arlington, punishing his larger rival so badly that surgery to repair the bone around his eye had to be delayed so facial swelling could ease. Margarito will have two months without contact of any kind in a gym to allow the fighter to heal, his manager Sergio Diaz said.
SOCCER
Congo withdraws host bid
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has withdrawn its bid to host the 2015 or 2017 African Nations Cups, leaving just Morocco and South Africa in the running, the Confederation of African Football said on Tuesday. African soccer’s governing body will decide in January on the outcome of the bids, but with just two countries left in the running, it will only have to allocate one tournament to each. Morocco and South Africa were serious rivals for the right to host this year’s World Cup, which went to South Africa.
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,
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 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
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),