FORMULA ONE
Walkinshaw passes away
Former team Arrows boss and Gloucester rugby club chairman Tom Walkinshaw has died at age 64, the rugby club said on Sunday. Walkinshaw, who had been suffering from cancer, was a former racing driver whose F1 career began with Benetton after successes at Le Mans and in touring cars with Jaguar. The Scotsman brought Ross Brawn along with him and then helped lure Michael Schumacher to the team from Jordan. Walkinshaw moved to Ligier after Schumacher’s first of seven championships in 1994 before taking over the top position at Arrows two years later. Arrows — which first raced in 1978 — folded in 2002 after 382 Grand Prixs without a single victory.
BOXING
King stopped with ammo
Promoter Don King was stopped by security at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Ohio for having ammunition in his carry-on luggage. Hopkins Airport spokeswoman Jacqueline Mayo said the 79-year-old King was stopped by members of the US Transportation Safety Administration on Sunday night. She said King had ammunition for .38-caliber and .357-caliber firearms in his bag. Mayo said the ammunition was taken and that King was released to continue his trip, she believes to Florida. WIOI-TV in Cleveland first reported the incident and said King was in Cleveland for his wife’s funeral. Henrietta King, 87, died on Thursday in Florida from complications from stomach cancer.
OLYMPICS
Grospiron quits as bid head
Edgar Grospiron has resigned as the head of the French region of Annecy’s struggling bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Grospiron announced his decision on Sunday during a meeting of the bid’s supervisory board, the board’s chairman Christian Monteil told The Associated Press by telephone. Monteil said Grospiron “will no longer be general director” and “we will have to recruit someone to replace him” within the next two weeks. Grospiron, Olympic moguls champion in 1992, “remains at the disposal” of the Annecy bid to help in other roles and with the transition toward a new leader, Monteil said, adding that the split was amicable.
ATHLETICS
Lebid wins ninth Euro title
Ukrainian veteran Sergiy Lebid won the men’s European cross country title for the ninth time in Albufeira, Portugal, on Sunday. The 35-year-old — who won the first of his nine titles back in 1998 — beat home Spain’s Ayal Lamdassem while Youssef El Kalai of Portugal took bronze. Lebid took full advantage of the absence of Spanish holder Alemayehu Bezabeh, who was withdrawn from the event on Thursday after being implicated in the latest doping scandal to hit Spanish sport, and Britain’s runner-up last year Mo Farah. Lebid — who also has three bronzes and a silver in the event — was dropped from the leaders after Lamdassem upped the pace with a kilometer to go but Lebid fought back using his experience and his powerful sprint finish to prevail.
GOLF
Song earns LPGA tour card
Aree Song won the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament on Sunday, shooting a one-over 73 in wind, rain and cold for a two-stroke victory over 17-year-old Jessica Korda. The 24-year-old Song finished at six-under 354 in the five-round event at LPGA International to earn one of 20 full tour exemptions for next year. Korda, the daughter of former tennis star Petr Korda, closed with a 77.
ASIAN CUP
Tough calls for coaches
The vexed debate over club versus country has made its way to Asia as club coaches in England and elsewhere in Europe voice their reluctance to lose players ahead of next month’s Asian Cup. English Premier League clubs have been regularly annoyed every other January at the demand for players at African Nations Cup. This biennial competition robs many teams of a several of their stars for several weeks. And while there is no African competition in 2012, Asia’s top national team will meet next month in Qatar for next year’s edition of its regional tournament.
WORLD CUP
Prince urges Cup switch
Prince Ali of Jordan has called on FIFA to switch the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar from summer to winter and to allow neighboring Arab nations to host games. Prince Ali told the Australian Associated Press he understood concerns expressed by England and other nations at FIFA’s decision to award the world tournament to the Middle East for the first time. Concerns have been expressed around the ability of tiny Qatar to host such a mammoth sporting event, particularly during its summer when temperatures can reach 50oC. Prince Ali said he understood Australians were upset at having lost the chance to host the 2022 World Cup, but he was not surprised FIFA awarded the tournament to a nation of 1.7 million people.
NIGERIA
Player dies on pitch
A 21-year-old Nigerian soccer player died on Sunday after collapsing during the first-half of a Nigeria Premier League (NPL) match. Ocean Boys defender Emma Ogoli slumped to the pitch in the 39th minute of the home game against Niger Tornadoes in Yenagoa and died on his way to hospital. “Ogoli is dead. He collapsed around the 39th minute of action and was rushed to hospital where he was confirmed dead,” Ocean Boys spokesman Eddy Ohis said. Ohis said an autopsy was to be carried out yesterday at the Federal Medical Center in Yenagoa. “I have received the official report from the match commissioner for the game on this very tragic incident,” NPL official Tunji Babalola said. “The player was not involved in any contact. He died on his way to hospital.”
FRANCE
Auxerre signs South Korean
South Korean striker Jung Jo-gook has signed for French club Auxerre, state news agency Yonhap reported yesterday, citing Jung’s agent. Jung, who plays for FC Seoul, was to have a medical later yesterday before joining the Ligue One side when the transfer window opens next month, his agent told Yonhap. FC Seoul won their first Korean league title in 10 years earlier this month with Jung scoring in the final game. The 26-year old notched 12 goals in the domestic league this season.
ENGLAND
Chile miners meet Charlton
Some of the Chilean miners rescued after two months trapped underground have arrived in England to watch Manchester United play Arsenal in the Premier League. The men flew into Manchester airport as guests of the 18-time English champions, who hosted Arsenal yesterday. They later posed for photographs with United great Bobby Charlton, who suggested inviting the miners to meet the players and watch a match while he was visiting Chile. Charlton is the son of a miner. The trip was organized with Chilean wine producer Vina Concha y Toro, which sponsors United.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
RSS