ALPINE SKILING
Grugger breathes on his own
Austrian Hans Grugger, in an induced coma since he suffered a crash during training in Kitzbuehel, Austria, two weeks ago, was breathing on his own and increasingly opening his eyes, doctors said on Monday. Grugger’s breathing improved significantly so that he was taken off the ventilator, Alexandra Kofler, neurosurgeon and medical director at Innsbruck hospital, said. “The patient is now breathing on his own, but he is still very exhausted and sleepy. He is increasingly awake and already shows partial reactions. He keeps opening his eyes and can squeeze one’s hand if encouraged to.” Grugger, 29, suffered a crash during training on Jan. 20.
SOCCER
US cancel friendly in Egypt
US soccer authorities said on Monday that the US’ friendly match scheduled in Cairo for Tuesday has been canceled because of political unrest in Egypt. The match between the US and the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions Egypt had been announced on Dec. 13 last year, and would have been the first ever in Egypt for a US side. “Due to the current situation, all parties agreed it was best to cancel the match,” US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said on Monday. The next game for the US, who are preparing this year for the North American continental championship the Gold Cup in June, will be against Argentina on March 27.
FOOTBALL
Union, league agree to talks
In a bid to “intensify” labor talks, the NFL and the union representing its players have agreed to a series of talks starting on Saturday in the Dallas area. NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and league commissioner Roger Goodell met in New York on Monday to discuss a range of issues related to a new collective bargaining agreement. “As part of a process to intensify negotiations, they agreed to hold a formal bargaining session with both negotiating teams on Saturday,” a joint statement said. NFL owners and players are trying to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires March 4 in an attempt to avert a potential lock-out of players.
ATHLETICS
Liu returns to Europe
Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang will compete in Europe for the first time in three years at next week’s indoor meeting in Duesseldorf, Germany, organizers said on Monday. The 2004 Athens Olympic champion, who has set his sights on reclaiming his title in London next year after limping out injured in front of his home fans in Beijing three years ago, will use the meet in an effort to find his top form. “Liu Xiang’s participation in Duesseldorf proves the world-wide importance of the Duesseldorf PSD Bank Meeting,” Duesseldorf’s Lord Mayor Dirk Elbers said.
TENNIS
Malaysia exits Fed Cup
Malaysia has pulled out of this week’s Fed Cup women’s team tennis event after failing to find any players good enough to compete, an official of the Southeast Asian nation’s tennis body said yesterday. The Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) said they had reviewed some players, but found none suitable to don the national colors. “We had a look at a few players, including two Swedish-based Malaysian-born talents, but they were not good enough,” LTAM executive secretary Ibrahim Abu Bakar told Malaysia’s New Straits Times. “We withdrew from the tournament mainly because we could not get the best players to represent the country.”
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when