MOTOR RACING
Bianchi starts rehabilitation
French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi remains unconscious, but has begun a program of rehabilitation therapy, his family said in a statement on Tuesday. Bianchi, who suffered a serious F1 race injury when he crashed into a recovery tractor in the wet at the Japanese Grand Prix on Oct. 5, was transferred to a hospital in Nice last month. “It was a significant and very comforting step for us to be able to bring Jules home to France last month, to continue his rehabilitation surrounded by his family and friends. This is very important for Jules and also for us,” the statement said. Bianchi has been treated in the Intensive Care Unit of Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice and is now at the hospital’s rehabilitation center. “Jules’ neurological status remains unchanged; he is unconscious, but able to breathe unaided,” the family added.
SOCCER
Zelalem made US citizen
German-born Gedion Zelalem, a 17-year-old standout midfielder for Arsenal, has become a US citizen and plans to play for the country, US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said on Tuesday. “Gedion Zelalem is now a US citizen. At his request, we have started the FIFA process which would allow him to be eligible for the USMNT,” Gulati said in a Twitter posting. Zelalem, whose parents are Ethiopian, played high-school soccer in Washington before being tapped by an Arsenal scout in 2013. While Zelalem had played for several German national youth squads, none was in a FIFA event, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the star prospect being seen near the White House on Monday at a US passport office. Zelalem, the first Arsenal player born after Arsene Wenger took charge of the Gunners, could boost US prospects at next year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics, as well as the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
FOOTBALL
Michigan U signs Harbaugh
American football coach Jim Harbaugh formally accepted the head coaching position at the University of Michigan on Tuesday, two days after parting company with the San Francisco 49ers. Harbaugh has been signed to a seven-year contract, university interim athletics director Jim Hackett said while introducing the 51-year-old in Ann Arbor as the school’s 20th head coach. According to media reports, Harbaugh’s deal is worth about US$5 million a year. “To come back as football coach, I have dreamed about that since the time I was a young lad. Now it’s time to live that,” said Harbaugh, who played college football at Michigan in the 1980s before embarking on a 14-season career in the NFL.
FOOTBALL
Suh wins suspension appeal
Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh won his appeal on Tuesday of a one-game suspension by the National Football League and is available for Sunday’s first-round playoff game at Dallas. League appeals officer Ted Cottrell overturned the one-game ban imposed on Monday by NFL vice president of football operations Merton Hanks, instead imposing a US$70,000 fine upon the Detroit defender. Suh was punished after stepping twice on the injured leg of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a victory by the Packers over the Lions on Sunday at Green Bay. Suh backed into Rodgers and knocked him to the ground during a pass play in the fourth quarter. After stepping backward once onto Rodgers leg, Suh made another step backward onto the area between Rodgers’ ankle and calf, an area which was injured in the second quarter so badly that Rodgers had to be helped off the field.
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
China’s Wu Yize on Monday won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year. Wu is also the second-youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990. “I have been trying
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