BASEBALL
Kuo signs with Mariners
The Seattle Mariners have signed free-agent relievers Kuo Hong-chih and Shawn Camp to one-year contracts in a move to bolster their bullpen, the Major League Baseball (MLB) team said on Monday. Financial terms were not released. Kuo, who in 2010 became the first Taiwanese to make an MLB All-Star team, went 1-2 and had a 9.00 earned run average in 40 games last season while hampered by elbow and anxiety problems. The left-hander, 30, had spent his entire seven-year Major League career with the Dodgers before being released in the off-season. Camp, 36, appeared in a team-high 67 games for the Toronto Blue Jays last year, posting a 6-3 record and 4.21 earned run average.
ICE HOCKEY
Crosby works out with team
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby worked out with his teammates on Monday, but said he was still recovering from concussion-like symptoms and a neck injury, and offered no timetable for his return. Crosby practiced with the Penguins at the Bell Centre in Montreal ahead of yesterday’s game with the Canadiens, but he and coach Dan Bylsma cautioned there was no change in his status. “I didn’t want to skate by myself,” Crosby told reporters. “When I go back to Pittsburgh I’ll be skating by myself again. It’s getting tough. I miss being out with the guys.” The NHL’s top attraction has been out of the lineup since Dec. 5 with concussion-like symptoms and a recently diagnosed soft-tissue neck injury. He said he believed his health was improving. “I feel like I’m getting there,” Crosby said. “I don’t have a time frame, I wish I did, but I don’t. The good news is that there is some progression.” However, he said: “I’m not symptom free. As soon as I am, I’ll be out there.”
CYCLING
Garmin win second stage
Garmin won the second stage at the Tour of Qatar on Monday, beating Quick Step by 7 seconds in the opening time trial of the season. In a slick performance from start to finish, Garmin finished the 11.3km route in 12 minutes, 38 seconds in sunny conditions. Sky Procycling were third, 9 seconds back. The win lifted American rider Tyler Farrar into second place in the overall standings, behind 2005 world road race champion Tom Boonen of Belgium. Boonen, who won the first stage on Sunday, was satisfied with his team’s performance. “We did a very good job until the last four [kilometers],” Boonen said. “There was a tail wind and the plan was to go fast on the way back. I think the last 1km is where we lost the time trial. So like I said yesterday, a finish in the top three would be a very good job, but we tried hard and lost to a very good team. I am happy with our young guys.”
BASKETBALL
Love handed suspension
Minnesota forward Kevin Love was suspended for two games without pay by the NBA on Monday for stamping on Luis Scola as the Houston player lay on the court during a game on Saturday. In making the announcement, NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said the incident had been upgraded by the league office to a flagrant foul two. The incident occurred with 8 minutes, 34 seconds to play in the third quarter of Minnesota’s 100-91 victory over Houston in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Scola hit the floor after a drive toward the basket and Love stepped on Scola’s head and chest with his left foot as he moved down the court. At the other end, the Rockets bench was called for a technical and the contest became increasingly physical from there.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Shahzad Khan was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
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