GOLF
Hanoi tournament postponed
Vietnam’s return to top-level regional golf has been postponed until later this season in the latest unwanted development for the sport in Asia. Players have been told that next month’s inaugural Volvik-Sky Lake Vietnam Masters, set to be the richest played in the country, has been delayed. The US$500,000 tournament in Hanoi had been announced with some fanfare by the Asian Tour, which is predicting a “new boom” for professional golf in the country. No reason for the delay was given on the Asian Tour’s Web site. The Southeast Asian country last hosted an Asian Tour event five years ago in 2008. The hiccup follows the cancelation of an event on the rival OneAsia tour, as well as this year’s Singapore Open, usually one of the major events on the Asian calendar.
BASKETBALL
Cavaliers sign Bennett
The Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday signed Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 selection in the NBA draft in June last year. The Cavaliers did not release the terms of the deal, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported it is worth US$16.7 million over three years. Bennett entered the draft after being voted the top freshman in the Mountain West Conference last season, when he averaged 16.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He made league history as the first Canadian-born player to be taken first in the draft. Bennett was born in Toronto and the scouts like him because he is a strong rebounder and has a nice scoring touch. The Cavaliers are hoping Bennett can help them forget about the loss of LeBron James, who fled the city for Miami following the 2010 season. Cleveland went 24-58 last season and have missed the playoffs for the past three seasons.
BASKETBALL
‘The Beast’ arrives in Athens
Chinese national team player Ping Shang arrived in Greece on Tuesday and took part in his new Panathinaikos team’s first practice session. “It is with great pleasure that I embrace being the first Chinese player on the team and I am thoroughly thrilled to be here,” the 29-year-old said. Ping becomes the first Chinese basketball player to play professionally in Europe, according to the Greek club. “Panathinaikos is the best team in Europe. I knew the team. I know that it has achieved everything and it is a dream come true to be getting to play for it,” Ping said. Ping was born in Harbin and stands 2.09m tall. He played college basketball in the US at Illinois Central Community College and then at Nebraska University. Due to his physical power, he was given the nickname “The Beast” in his university days.
RUGBY
Henson regrets brawl
Wales center Gavin Henson says he regrets the incident that saw him sent sprawling to the floor in a bar by a punch from Bath teammate Carl Fearns. The two players were warned and fined by English Premiership side Bath after Fearns hit Henson during a pre-season social event that took place just a month after the Welshman joined the club. Henson has challenged Fearns to a charity boxing match, but he said on Tuesday that he was eager to draw a line under the incident. “It wasn’t a great start to my Bath career and I’d like to put that behind me,” he told BBC Radio Bristol. “Hopefully I can get out on the field and people will see me as just a rugby player... I had a big headache that day and I went down quite easily. Maybe we will have a charity boxing match at the end of the year so I can get a bit of respect back.”
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
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