SOCCER
Mbia signs for Hebei
Cameroon captain and former Olympique de Marseille center-back Stephane Mbia has signed for Hebei China Fortune, the club announced yesterday, the latest Europe-based player to head east in the current transfer window. “Looking forward to ‘absolute beast defender’ Mbia fully showing his strength,” the club said in a microblog post, adding that he would give the team’s defense a “qualitative leap.” Hebei did not give a fee, but soccer Web site Transfermarkt said the club paid Turkey’s Trabzonspor 4 million euros (US$4.4 million) for the 29-year-old.
CRICKET
Warne foundation to close
Former Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne says he is closing the charitable foundation that bears his name after “unwarranted speculation” over its financial management. Warne announced the foundation’s closure on Facebook yesterday. “In response to recent, unwarranted speculation about the Shane Warne Foundation and its distribution of funds, we confirm we have distributed $3.67 million to date with an additional and final substantial check to be distributed on March 18, 2016,” he wrote. The Shane Warne Foundation is to be audited by the Victoria State Consumer Affairs Department.
CRICKET
Sri Lanka regain Ford
South African Graham Ford is to return as Sri Lanka’s head coach after leaving English county championship side Surrey. The 55-year-old Ford took over as Sri Lanka’s coach in 2012 for two years before moving to Surrey, whom he led to promotion from County Championship Division Two last year. “Ford has been appointed with effect from Feb. 1,” a Sri Lanka Cricket source said, without giving further details. The Sri Lanka head coach’s position has been lying vacant since former Test captain Marvan Atapattu resigned in early September last year. Ford was South Africa’s coach from 1999 to 2001 before moving to English county Kent as director of cricket in 2004. In 2006 he returned to South Africa to take charge of the Dolphins.
FORMULA ONE
Pirelli to discuss rules
Pirelli is to host a meeting of Formula One’s key stakeholders in Milan, Italy, next week to discuss how the sport wants the tires to perform. F1 is planning a rewrite of the rules from next year to improve the show with faster and more aggressive-looking cars. Drivers have said that they want tires that let them race flat-out from start to finish rather than the quick-wearing ones that need careful management over a distance. The company would “discuss target tire performance guidelines,” it said. “Pirelli sees this meeting as being of vital importance in order to further consolidate the close collaboration that got under way last year.”
BASEBALL
Wrongful-death suit settled
The family of a University of Rhode Island baseball player who died after a team workout has received US$1.45 million in a settlement with the university and its insurance carrier. An attorney for Joseph Ciancola III’s mother on Thursday said that the settlement in her wrongful-death lawsuit was reached on Jan. 8, days before the case was set to go to trial. The 20-year-old student from Orange, Connecticut, suffered an unspecified medical emergency and collapsed during an Oct. 24, 2011, team pre-season workout. He died in a hospital three days later. Her attorney, Patrick Barry, said the settlement ends a “hard-fought” legal dispute over a “tragic death.”
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
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