OLYMPICS
Taiwanese voted into IOC
The head of the international amateur boxing federation has won a spot on the powerful International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board. C.K. Wu of Taiwan, president of amateur boxing association AIBA, defeated cycling federation chief Pat McQuaid 20-8 on Tuesday in a vote of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) in Quebec City, Canada. Wu will replace Denis Oswald as the ASOIF representative on the IOC board. Oswald, head of world rowing’s governing body, is stepping down as ASOIF president at the end of the year. International Tennis Federation president Francesco Ricci Bitti was elected unopposed on Tuesday to succeed Oswald as the head of ASOIF. Because the 70-year-old Ricci Bitti’s IOC membership expires this year, ASOIF had to nominate a full IOC member to the board. Wu’s nomination will come up for ratification at the IOC session in London in July.
BASEBALL
Wang Chien-ming activated
Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming was activated by the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, with relief pitcher Ryan Mattheus replacing the Asian hurler on the disabled list. Wang had been slated to be the fifth starter for the National League squad this season, but a strained left hamstring put an end to those plans. The 32-year-old right-hander will be used in a long relief role. In five starts with developmental-league clubs, Wang went 3-0 with a 3.52 earned-run average. Wang has been a bullpen pitcher five times during his North American career, all of them coming when he played for the New York Yankees from 2005 to 2009. The Nationals, 25-17, are one win behind the Atlanta Braves in a fight for the top spot in the National League East division.
SOCCER
Hooligans threaten players
Racing Club midfielder Giovanni Moreno and forward Federico Santander say they were threatened at gunpoint in Beunos Aires on Tuesday by hooligans who blame them for the club’s poor results. Santander, a forward with the Buenos Aires club, told a radio program that he and Moreno were accosted after practice by several hooligans who put a gun to Moreno’s leg and said they would “blow it off” if he didn’t leave the club. The hooligan gangs, known in Argentina as barrabravas, are a fixture in Argentine soccer matches, where violence takes place at almost every match. “They told us ... on Sunday we have to win. If not, things will get worse,” Santander told the radio station La Red. “Never in my career has anything like this happened.” Santander said the incident happened shortly after they left practice in Moreno’s vehicle. He said they were forced to pull over by another car and accosted at gunpoint.
SOCCER
Robben booed at home
Arjen Robben was booed by many of his home Bayern Munich fans when he made an appearance for the Netherlands in a friendly three days after he missed a penalty in the Champions League final against Chelsea. Robben’s spot-kick in extra time was saved by Petr Cech and Chelsea won the penalty shootout to lift the title at Bayern’s Allianz Arena on Saturday. Bayern won 3-2 on Tuesday in a match that was part of the settlement to a long dispute between the club and the Dutch soccer federation after Robben returned injured from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and could not play for months. Bayern demanded and won compensation from the Dutch.
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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