BASKETBALL
NBA tattoo lawsuit to proceed
A federal judge on Friday rejected a request by the maker of the popular NBA 2K video game series to dismiss a lawsuit over its depiction in the game of tattoos belonging to LeBron James and other National Basketball Association stars. US District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan said she needed a better understanding of how Take-Two Interactive Software Inc’s flagship game is “generally played,” before deciding whether its “realistic” depiction of tattoos licensed by Solid Oak Sketches LLC amounted to fair use. Solid Oak is seeking damages for the depiction of tattoos belonging to James, Eric Bledsoe and Kenyon Martin, for which it owns copyright registrations. Swain said that before deciding whether Take-Two committed copyright infringement, she wanted to know how the “average lay observer” would see the tattoos while playing the game, and how prominent the tattoos actually were.
SOCCER
Wilkins ‘fights for life’
Former England captain and Chelsea, Manchester United and AC Milan midfielder Ray Wilkins was fighting for his life on Friday following a heart attack, with his wife telling British media: “It’s very, very bad.” Wilkins, 61, is understood to have fallen and hit his head after his heart stopped. He has been placed in an induced coma at a London hospital. “He is not in a good state at all, I’m afraid. He’s critically ill,” Wilkins’ wife Jackie told The Mirror newspaper. Wilkins played 84 times for England, captaining his country 10 times between 1976 and 1986. His playing career also took him to Paris Saint-Germain, Glasgow Rangers and Queen’s Park Rangers. “The thoughts of everybody at Chelsea Football Club are with Ray Wilkins and his family tonight. Keep fighting Ray, you have our love and support,” a statement on the Chelsea Twitter feed said.
GOLF
Park eagles to lead ANA
Park Sung-hyun eagled the par-four 15th hole en route to an “awesome” eight-under-par 64 and a share of the second-round clubhouse lead at the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, California on Friday. South Korean Park, the US Women’s Open champion, joined Swede Pernilla Lindberg at 12-under 132 on another morning of ideal conditions at Mission Hills. Lindberg, the first round leader, followed her opening 65 with a bogey-free 67. The leading duo had a substantial five-shot advantage over Englishwomen Jodi Ewart Shadoff (67) and Charley Hull (68) and American Amy Olson (68) with half the field back in the clubhouse. Self-coached Park said she had not even been aware of her score. “I just was so focused on my game today,” she told reporters.
BASEBALL
MLB players 29% foreign
Major League Baseball started the season with its most players born in Puerto Rico since 2011. Nineteen players on opening-day rosters were born in the US territory, an increase of three from last year, the commissioner’s office said on Friday. The overall percentage of players born outside the 50 states was 29 percent, down from last year’s record 29.8 percent figure. The Dominican Republic led with 84, down from 93 last year. Venezuela was next with 74, followed by Puerto Rico, Cuba (17), Mexico (11), Japan (eight), Canada and South Korea (six each), and Colombia and Curacao (five apiece). Australia, Brazil, Nicaragua and Panama had three apiece. Taiwan, Aruba, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, South Africa, and the US Virgin Islands each had one.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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