BASKETBALL
Lakers sign Yi Jianlian
Yi Jianlian, who is fresh off an appearance with the Chinese national team at the Rio Olympics, has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA team announced on Monday. Yi, of China’s Guangdong Province, averaged 20.4 points and 6.6 rebounds in five games at the Summer Olympics, which ended on Sunday. Yi, 28, joins a team that has been at or near the bottom of the NBA the past several seasons. The Lakers declined to release details of the contract. Yi was the Milwaukee Bucks’ first-round draft in 2007. He has not played in the NBA since 2012 and has spent the past four seasons playing in the Chinese Basketball Association.
CRICKET
S Africa, NZ draw over rain
The first Test between South Africa and New Zealand yesterday ended in a damp draw without a ball bowled over the final three-and-a-half days due to a sodden outfield at Kingsmead. Only 100 overs were possible in the match, with New Zealand frozen on 15-2 in their first innings for 11 sessions after the players left the field prior to lunch on the second day, never to return. The tourists were replying to South Africa’s first innings total of 263 all out on a difficult batting surface in what was the first winter Test to be played in Durban. The debacle will now place the spotlight on Cricket South Africa’s decision to play the game at Kingsmead, with no play possible for three days, despite no rain.
CRICKET
Trinidad launches probe
The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board has launched an investigation after only 22 overs could be played over five days in the fourth and final Test between the West Indies and India at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, due to a soggy outfield. The lack of action meant India won the four-Test series 2-0, but surrendered the top spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings to Pakistan, less than a week after taking over the No. 1 position from Australia. Rain halted play on the first day of the Test after the West Indies had reached 62-2, and no further play was possible over the next four days, despite periods of sunshine. The abandonment and lack of modern equipment at the ground has been panned by critics and former cricketers. The ground might also face action from the ICC if Sri Lankan match referee Ranjan Madugalle submits an adverse report against the venue.
SOCCER
Leganes debut with victory
Victor Diaz on Monday scored the only goal as CD Leganes defeated RC Celta de Vigo 1-0 in the club’s first-ever game in the Spanish top flight. Diaz steered in from a corner on 75 minutes to hand Leganes victory on their La Liga debut, having won promotion to the top tier by finishing runners-up in Spain’s second division last season. Meanwhile, UD Las Palmas stunned Valencia 4-2 at the Mestalla, with Croatian striker Marko Livaja netting a brace in the final game of the opening round of matches in Spain. Santi Mina headed Valencia into a sixth-minute lead, but Livaja equalized before Jonathan Viera converted a penalty and Kevin-Prince Boateng stretched the visitors’ advantage on his Las Palmas debut. Mina struck again to make it 3-2 after just 34 minutes, but Livaja rounded out a famous victory late on.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS