TENNIS
Suspicious betting rises
Alerts for suspicious betting patterns increased during the first quarter of this year as lower-level tours were targeted, the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) said on Wednesday. The season was halted in early March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving players in the lower tiers who solely depend on tournament winnings without the opportunity to earn a living. A 2018 International Review Panel report commissioned to address betting and integrity issues said that players in the lowest tiers were susceptible to corruption because of the difficulty in making a living. The TIU said it received 38 match alerts from the regulated betting industry between January and March 22, compared with 21 alerts for the same period last year. “The increase ... is an indication that the entry levels of professional tennis were deliberately targeted by corruptors, as the sport moved towards suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic,” it said in a statement.
GOLF
US PGA mulls return
The US PGA Tour is considering scenarios to a return to competition in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, including playing some events without fans, Golf Digest reported on Friday. The tour told players in a memo sent on Thursday that it was targeting a return for the Charles Schwab Challenge on May 21 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Players were told in the tour memo that officials hope to “preserve the maximum number of events we can while giving us more time as the crisis evolves.”
HORSE RACING
Trainer fined, suspended
A quarter horse trainer whose combined earnings over a decades-long career total nearly US$13 million has been hit with a hefty fine and a 34-year suspension for several doping violations. Documents obtained from the New Mexico Racing Commission show the violations involved horses that tested positive while at Ruidoso Downs in southern New Mexico. The out-of-competition testing occurred in July last year. The horses — all owned by Jose Fabian Hernandez of Jarrell, Texas — tested positive for the medication ostarine. Under the commission’s ruling, Bobby Martinez faces fines totaling US$480,000 and he will not be eligible to apply for a state license until 2054. Martinez told the American Quarter Horse Association’s publication Q Racing that he never handled the horses that tested positive and only served as the trainer on paper. He said the punishment was too harsh and that he has never had a Class 1 violation in his 30-year career. “The only thing I’m guilty of is lending my name out,” Martinez said, saying the case has ruined his life.
FOOTBALL
Brady files trademarks
Tom Brady has not played a game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the six-time Super Bowl champion is already busy trying to safeguard money-making trademarks linked to his new club. The 42-year-old’s company, TEB Capital Management, has filed for two new trademarks — “Tompa Bay” and “Tampa Brady” — trademark attorney Josh Gerben said on Friday. Brady boosted the Bucs atop US sports merchandise sales thanks to purchases of his new Tampa Bay No. 12 jersey. Brady wants to use the two trademarks, which he applied for on Monday, and another he applied for last month, “TBxTB” for his initials and Tampa Bay, on clothing, footwear and headwear.
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
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