BASKETBALL
Jeremy Lin withdraws
New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin has withdrawn from the US men’s select team that is set to train this month against the US men’s national basketball team during a training camp in Las Vegas. Lin told USA Basketball on Monday that he was withdrawing because he is now a NBA restricted free agent. “Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to participate in the 2012 USA men’s select team this summer,” Lin said. “It was such an incredible honor to be selected, but I have withdrawn my name from the team because of my status as a free agent. I hope to have the opportunity to participate with USA Basketball at some point in the future.” Members of the US select team are scheduled to be in Nevada from tomorrow to train with the US national team.
BASKETBALL
Top teams win first games
Russia, Greece, Angola and Venezuela won their opening games on Monday in the final qualifying tournament for men’s basketball at the London Olympics. Russia defeated South Korea 91-56 in Group C. Andrey Kirlenko had 16 points for Russia, with Sergey Monya adding 14. Lee Seung-jun led South Korea with 15. Greece beat Jordan 107-63 in Group A. Konstantinos Papanikolaou had 19 points and Georgios Printezis added 16. Enver Soobzokov was best for Jordan with 14. Angola edged Macedonia 88-84 in Group D, with Eduardo Mingas scoring 24 and Olimpio Cipriano adding 23. Carlos Morais had 18. Lester McCalebb scored 21 for the Macedonia. In Group B, home team Venezuela slipped by Nigeria 71-69. Greivis Vasquez led the South Americans with 24. Ike Diogu was Nigeria’s top scorer with 14. Three teams will claim the final berths for the Olympics. Group play ends today with the quarter-finals on Friday, semi-finals on Saturday and the final match on Sunday to decide the remaining spot.
ICE HOCKEY
Brodeur stays with Devils
Goaltender Martin Brodeur, the National Hockey League’s all-time wins leader, has re-signed with the New Jersey Devils ensuring he will return for a 19th season with the club, team president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said on Monday. The 40-year-old Brodeur, a member of all three of New Jersey’s Stanley Cup championship teams, appeared in 59 games last season, recording a 31-21-4 mark, and started all 24 playoff games on the Devils’ way to the Stanley Cup Finals. The team would not comment on terms of the deal, but local reports said Brodeur signed a two-year deal worth US$9 million. A four-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as top goalie in the NHL, Brodeur has accumulated 656 victories and 119 shutouts, both NHL career records. His 113 playoff victories are second all-time, while his 24 shutouts are first.
SAILING
Cammas seals Volvo win
Frenchman Franck Cammas sealed victory in the Volvo Ocean Race yesterday after his Groupama team made it over the finish line in Galway to build an unassailable lead and complete a great comeback in the eight-month adventure. Cammas’ victory gives France only their second win in the 39-year history of the offshore race, following Lionel Pean’s triumph on board L’Esprit d’Equipe in 1985-1986. Tens of thousands of people came out to welcome the team to the final stopover port of a race around the world that began in Alicante in October last year. Victory for Spanish/New Zealand team Camper in the final leg secured them second spot overall, with US team PUMA finishing third on the day to seal third overall.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Hulking Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan on Monday surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Criterium de Dauphine in Issoire, France, to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. The 1.93m, 87kg Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Premilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. “That was really tough,” Milan said. “I was dropped at one point, and I was really on the limit, but I have to say
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