Sun, Aug 03, 2014 page18

• SPORTS BRIEFS

  • Agencies
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  BASKETBALL

  Parker’s contract extended

  The San Antonio Spurs have signed point guard Tony Parker to a multi-year contract extension. The Spurs made the announcement on Friday. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Parker averaged 16.7 points and 5.7 assists in 29 minutes per game last season to help the Spurs to the franchise’s fifth NBA title. Parker has spent all 13 seasons of his career in San Antonio and was due to make US$12.5 million next season in the final year of his existing contract. However, the Spurs made sure he will stick around longer than that, locking up the 32-year-old Parker.

  ICE HOCKEY

  Ducks to retire No. 8

  The Anaheim Ducks will retire Teemu Selanne’s No. 8 jersey in a ceremony on Jan. 11. The Ducks announced plans for the franchise’s first number retirement on Friday. Selanne retired this year after a 21-season NHL career spent mostly with the Ducks. The “Finnish Flash” is Anaheim’s career leader in goals, assists and games played. Selanne will be honored when the Ducks host the Winnipeg Jets, his first NHL team. Selanne played nearly four seasons in Winnipeg, winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie before he was traded to Anaheim in February 1996. Selanne is the 11th-leading goal-scorer in NHL history, with 684, and his 1,457 career points rank 15th in league history. Selanne also is a six-time Olympian for Finland, winning four medals.

  BOXING

  Ali gloves fetch US$388,375

  The gloves that boxing great Muhammad Ali wore in his legendary 1971 fight against Joe Frazier in what became known as the Fight of the Century sold at auction on Thursday for almost US$400,000. An anonymous bidder bought the gloves for US$388,375 at the auction run by Texas-based Heritage Auctions at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland. Heritage previously auctioned a set of gloves Ali wore to claim his first World Championship in 1964 for US$836,500.

  GOLF

  Watney leads Barracuda

  Nick Watney increased his lead to three points in the Barracuda Championship, scoring eight points on Friday in the modified Stableford event at Montreux to push his two-day total to 26. Players receive eight points for double eagle, five for eagle, two for birdie, zero for par, minus-one for bogey and minus-three for double bogey or worse. Watney had five birdies and two bogeys in the morning session after making nine birdies in his bogey-free first round. Geoff Ogilvy was second. Wes Roach was third at 22, and Tommy Gainey and Tim Wilkinson had 21. Ogilvy had a seven-point round, Roach and Gainey each scored 10 points, and Wilkinson had five.

  GOLF

  Garcia takes Firestone lead

  Sergio Garcia one-putted the final 11 holes and made birdies on his last seven holes on Friday in the Bridgestone Invitational to tie the course record at Firestone with a nine-under 61 and take a three-shot lead into the weekend. He had a birdie putt on every hole on the back nine, missing only a 15-footer from the fringe at No. 11. Garcia shot 27 on the back nine, a course record. It matched the tournament record held by Tiger Woods, who shot 61 in 2000 and last year, and Jose Maria Olazabal, who shot his 61 in 1990. Woods went on to win by 11 shots in 2000 and seven shots last year. Olazabal won by 12 in the World Series of Golf. Garcia was at 11-under 129, three shots clear of Justin Rose, who had a 67.

  CRICKET

  Anderson, Jadeja not guilty

  England fast bowler James Anderson and India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have been found not guilty of breaching the International Cricket Council (ICC) code of conduct and are free to play in next week’s fourth Test. The ICC made the announcement after a six-hour videoconference hearing on Friday into an alleged incident during the first Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. “Witnesses, including some Indian and English players, provided evidence and were cross-examined by the respective legal counsels,” world cricket’s governing body said in a statement. Anderson and Jadeja were involved in a verbal altercation at Trent Bridge and media reports suggested the dispute continued when they left the field. Jadeja was initially fined 50 percent of his match fee, but that punishment was dropped. Lancashire paceman Anderson, the leading wicket-taker in the series with 16 victims, is now free to play in his home Test at Old Trafford, Manchester, that is to start on Thursday.

  SOCCER

  Brandao’s Bastia move folds

  Brazilian striker Brandao’s move to Ligue 1 club SC Bastia collapsed on Friday after the Corsicans claimed that AS Saint-Etienne demanded a transfer fee for the player at the last minute. “After the player signed a one-year deal [with the option of a second], Saint-Etienne demanded a transfer fee, contrary to what we had initially foreseen,” Bastia said in a statement. Bastia, now coached by Claude Makelele, added that they had therefore decided not to go ahead with the deal for the 34-year-old. However, Saint-Etienne responded by denying that they had ever demanded money for the player. Saint-Etienne also claimed that Bastia still owe them more than 150,000 euros (US$201,000) for the signing of the defender Sylvain Marchal two years ago. Brandao, a title-winner with Marseille in 2010, had initially thought he had been freed from the final year of his contract with Saint-Etienne to allow him to sign for Bastia.

  SOCCER

  Atletico get Ansaldi on loan

  Atletico Madrid have taken Argentine fullback Cristian Ansaldi on a season-long loan from Russian club Zenit St Petersburg, the La Liga champions said on Friday. The 27-year-old, who will likely replace Filipe Luis at left back after the Brazilian left to join Chelsea this month, has passed a medical and signed his contract, Atletico said on their Web site. Ansaldi has three caps for Argentina.

  SOCCER

  Spartak Moscow get first win

  Spartak Moscow’s first competitive match under new coach Murat Yakin ended in a resounding 4-0 win away to Rubin Kazan as the Russian Premier League season got under way on Friday. A double by forward Artem Dzyuba, who is back at Spartak after a loan spell at Rostov, set the nine-time champions on their way to an impressive victory. Midfielder Denis Glushakov and Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios, on as a substitute, were also on target for the capital side. Dzyuba scored 17 goals last season for Rostov and started this campaign with a bang, opening the scoring in the 26th minute following a cross from Argentine midfielder Tino Costa. Eight minutes after the interval Dzyuba headed home a Dmitry Kombarov center to make it 2-0. Glushakov made it 3-0 from a powerful long-range free-kick and Barrios wrapped up a fine victory late on when he converted the rebound after Pavel Yakovlev’s initial shot bounced back off the right post.
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