SOCCER
Euro goals in China go 3D
Fans in China will be able to see 3D computer recreations of all goals scored in Euro 2012 on their mobile phones, Chinese mobile and TV service provider WASU and Agence France-Presse (AFP) announced yesterday. “We are making this AFP service available to China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom subscribers,” WASU chief executive Li Yiqing said. “This will be another way for them to enjoy this hugely popular sport in China,” she said. Under terms of the agreement signed by WASU New Media Network and AFP, AFP’s German-based partner Impire AG will reproduce and supply high-definition computer graphics of all goals scored from three angles. Once the tournament begins tomorrow, the service will be available to subscribers on the three mobile networks within two hours of the end of each match. “The idea is to have soccer fans enjoy and appreciate the intricacies of each goal scored,” AFP Asia-Pacific regional director Eric Wishart said. “We are delighted to be working with WASU in bringing this very special news product to soccer fans in China,” he said.
SOCCER
Man United to sign Kagawa
Japan international Shinji Kagawa is set to become Manchester United’s first summer signing after the English Premier League club confirmed on Tuesday they have “reached agreement” with his club, Borussia Dortmund. “Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has agreed terms with both Borussia Dortmund and Shinji Kagawa for his transfer to the club,” a United statement said. “The deal is subject only to the player medical and obtaining a UK work permit. These conditions are anticipated to be completed by the end of June.” The deal is expected to cost about £12 million (US$18.4 million). Kagawa has scored 21 goals in 49 Bundesliga appearances for Dortmund, helping them win back-to-back league titles.
BASEBALL
Lasorda suffers heart attack
Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda was hospitalized in New York after suffering a heart attack on Monday, the MLB team announced on Tuesday. Lasorda, 84, is a Baseball Hall of Famer who represented the Dodgers at the MLB Draft when he became ill. The team said in a posting on their Web site that Lasorda is resting comfortably. Lasorda went 1,599-1,439 in a 20-year career as manager of the Dodgers before retiring midway into the 1996 season after suffering a heart attack. He now serves the Dodgers as a special adviser to the owner. He guided the Dodgers to World Series titles in 1981 and 1988 and managed the team on two losing trips to the World Series as NL champions in 1977 and 1978.
ICE HOCKEY
Habs rehire Michel Therrien
Michel Therrien, who coached the Montreal Canadiens over parts of three seasons from 2000 to 2003, was named the NHL club’s new coach on Tuesday by general manager Marc Bergevin. The Canadiens, whose 24 Stanley Cup titles include one before the NHL was formed, missed the playoffs this season for the first time in five years, going 31-35 with 16 regulation draws for 78 points, last in the Eastern Conference. The Canadiens fired Jacques Martin as coach after 32 games and replaced him for the remainder of the season with Randy Cunneyworth. Now Therrien reclaims the task of bringing an NHL crown to Montreal for the first time since 1993. He went 77-77-36 with the Canadiens from November 2000 to January 2003, helping Montreal end a three-year playoff drought.
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For