BASEBALL
Athletics sign Matsui
The Oakland Athletics and free agent slugger Hideki Matsui finalized a US$4.25 million, one-year contract on Tuesday after he passed a physical. The sides had agreed to terms during the weekend. Oakland formally introduced Matsui on Tuesday afternoon in a news conference attended by more than 100 media members — mostly Japanese — and featuring 17 television cameras. The 36-year-old Matsui batted .274 with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs last season with the Los Angeles Angels, the Athletics’ American League West rival.
FOOTBALL
Vikings go ‘alfresco’
The Minnesota Vikings said they would host the Chicago Bears on Monday in the great outdoors after finding their indoor Metrodome home would not be ready after a snowstorm caused a rip in the inflatable roof. An inspection on Tuesday ruled out the Metrodome and the NFL team announced their Monday night game next week would be shifted to the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium. “We are committed to playing Monday night’s game in Minnesota in front of our fans,” the Vikings said in a statement posted on their Web site. “We appreciate the tremendous cooperation of the University of Minnesota and look forward to completing preparations for the game and turning this into a memorable experience for the State of Minnesota and Vikings fans.”
TENNIS
Parents duke it out
One man was arrested and paramedics were called after a dispute over a line call in a junior tennis match sparked a fight between parents in Melbourne, Australia. Tennis Australia condemned the incident, which left one man needing hospital treatment for cuts and grazes. Police spokeswoman Sharna Roberts said officers responded to a call to Melbourne Park — home of the Australian Open — on Tuesday after a fight involving a 48-year-old and a 51-year-old man. One man was charged with assault.
SWIMMING
Lochte goes Phelpsian
Having surpassed Michael Phelps as the top all-around swimmer this year, Ryan Lochte hopes to punctuate the fact with a Phelpsian performance this week. Lochte wants to swim eight events over five days at the short-course world championships which began yesterday in Dubai. If he wins them all, he’ll match the record eight golds Phelps won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Lochte is listed to swim five individual events — the 100m, 200m and 400m individual medleys, plus the 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke. He’ll also take part in the 400m and 800m free relays. The only question in his program is whether he’ll race in the 400m medley relay.
SWIMMING
2010 going record-less
The clock is ticking very slowly in swimming these days. For the first time in more than a century, the sport risks ending the year without a single world record established in the pool. By outlawing the rubberized suits that rewrote the record book in 2008 and last year, swimming governing body FINA has turned back the clock so far that most swimmers are no longer anywhere close to their best times. This year’s record book has already been closed on long-course events without a single entry and this week’s short-course world championships in Dubai present the final chance to make some history.
AGENCIES
SOCCER
Miners inspired United win
Watching soccer while trapped underground gave the trapped miners in Chile hope during their 69-day ordeal this year and their experience helped inspire Manchester United to beat Arsenal on Monday. Some of the 33 miners rescued in October were at Old Trafford to watch Alex Ferguson’s team go top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over one of their main title rivals. “You played a part in that great win over Arsenal last night because Alex referred to your story in his team talk before the game and used the motivation from that to galvanize the players,” club chief executive David Gill told them on Tuesday. Wearing United scarves and clutching bulging bags of souvenirs from the club shop, the miners were attending a champagne and canapes reception for them at Old Trafford. Some brushed away tears as a video of their rescue was shown, while others cheered and laughed as they saw themselves sharing passionate kisses with their loved ones.
SOCCER
Tevez reports for training
Want-away Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez returned to the club’s training ground on Tuesday as scheduled, Britain’s Press Association reported. Tevez was scheduled to take part in a training session on Tuesday following a four-day break in Tenerife. The Argentina striker sat out the weekend victory against West Ham United, which emphasized City’s title credentials, as he was banned, but following the win, it was revealed Tevez had handed in a written transfer request that has been rejected by the club. It is understood he was unlikely to travel to Turin yesterday with the squad ahead of their Europa League match against Juventus. Manager Roberto Mancini apparently made that decision before the weekend, knowing the team is already through to the next stage of the tournament.
SOCCER
Three injured in bus attack
Three people were injured on Tuesday when a group, believed to be Dinamo Zagreb fans, stoned and threw torches at a bus carrying VIP guests of Greek side PAOK ahead of their Europa League match, police said. Several dozen people attacked the police-escorted bus that was carrying about 40 guests of the Greek team on the outskirts of Zagreb, police said in a statement. Three people were injured and treated in the hospital, while seven more refused medical help, police added. Attackers pelted the bus with stones and after breaking its windows, they threw torches into it. Several perpetrators were detained, while a car that was passing nearby was also damaged, police said. Local media reported that firefighters managed to immediately extinguish the fire in the bus.
RUGBY UNION
Banned physio appeals
A former rugby physiotherapist who was stripped of his license because of his involvement in the faking of blood injuries has launched an appeal in one of Britain’s senior courts. The lawyer acting for Steph Brennan says the sanction imposed by the Health Professions Council in September is too severe. Paul Harris told London’s High Court that “it couldn’t possibly have been proportionate for the conduct committee to have effectively adopted a ‘one strike and you are out for good’ approach.” Brennan admitted to a total of five instances of faking blood injuries, a practice brought to light by a high-profile case involving Harlequins winger Tom Williams in a Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster in April last year.
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
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
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