BASKETBALL
Mavericks sign Stoudemire
Amare Stoudemire signed with Dallas on Wednesday, giving the Mavericks a front-line boost with a six-time All-Star as they fights for a playoff berth. The move came two days after the New York Knicks, with the NBA’s worst record of 10-43, released Stoudemire to give the playmaker a chance to join a title contender and boost their future funds under NBA salary cap rules. The Mavericks are 36-19, fifth in the Western Conference, but in the middle of a pack of clubs battling for the third through seventh seeding spots over the final two months of the season. “I’m excited to be a part of a first-class organization,” Stoudemire said. “To play alongside Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler and other great players, I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for me to compete for a championship.” Stoudemire, 32, averaged 12.0 points and 6.8 rebounds in 36 games this season with the Knicks, who bought out the remainder of the US$100 million, five-year deal he signed in 2010.
BASKETBALL
Anthony to go under knife
The New York Knicks leading scorer Carmelo Anthony is to have season-ending surgery on his left knee, the last-placed NBA team said on Wednesday. The eight-time All-Star forward will have a patella-tendon debridement, and repair to remove damaged and dead tissue that has been bothering him since the second game of the season, the Knicks said in a statement. Anthony, whose recovery is expected to take from four to six months, will miss New York’s final 29 games. Playing his first season of a five-year, US$124 million contract, Anthony was averaging 24.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 40 games. Anthony has been in and out of the Knicks lineup due to his knee, although he suited up and played in Sunday’s All-Star Game on his home court at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks (10-43) have gone 0-13 this season when Anthony sits out.
GOLF
Clarke to captain Europe
Northern Irishman Darren Clarke has been appointed captain of Europe for next year’s Ryder Cup against the US, the European team announced on Wednesday. “I am naturally extremely proud to be selected as European Ryder Cup captain for 2016,” Clarke said in a statement on the European Ryder Cup team Web site. “The Ryder Cup has been a massive part of my life and my career, so to have the chance to lead Europe next year is a huge honor.” Clarke, 46, beat off competition from Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Bjorn to succeed Paul McGinley, who led Europe to a five-point victory over the US at Gleneagles in September last year. Clarke, who was the favorite for the role, played in five Ryder Cups and was vice captain in 2010 and 2012. He will now lead Europe’s bid for a fourth successive victory at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minnesota, on Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 next year.
RUGBY UNION
Russell to miss Italy clash
Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell will miss the Six Nations game against Italy next week after tournament organizers announced on Wednesday that he had been given a two-week suspension. The 22-year-old Glasgow player was given a three-week ban, reduced to two weeks due to his good previous record, for a dangerous tackle on Dan Biggar during Scotland’s 26-23 loss to Wales in Edinburgh on Sunday. The Scottish Rugby Union subsequently announced in a statement that it was “disappointed” by the ruling and that it would launch an appeal once it had received the panel’s written verdict.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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