■TENNIS
Mario Ancic withdraws
Mario Ancic of Croatia withdrew from the Beijing Olympics yesterday, and Canadian players Frank Dancevic and Frederic Niemeyer were both added to the men’s draw. Niemeyer replaced the 25th-ranked Ancic, while Dancevic replaced Denis Gremelmayr of Germany. Rainer Schuettler of Germany, who got his spot in Beijing by winning an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, replaced Dudi Sela of Israel in the draw. Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who withdrew last week, was replaced by Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic. The Olympic tennis tournament starts Sunday, two days after the opening ceremony, and will finish Aug. 17.
■WEIGHTLIFTING
India drops weightlifter
Monica Devi, India’s lone competitor for weightlifting in the Beijing Olympics, dismissed charges of doping against her and said she was innocent at a press briefing yesterday. Devi was withdrawn from the Indian squad hours before she was to board the flight to Beijing on Tuesday night after she tested positive for an anabolic steroid, the Indian Express newspaper reported, quoting unnamed sources. The test was conducted on June 28. In the pre-Olympic trial conducted by the Indian Weightlifting Federation last month, P Shailaja performed better than Devi, but Devi was chosen because she had won a silver and two bronze at the Asian Championships in Japan this year.
■SOCCER
Dunga: Brazil needs to win
Dunga knows there won’t be many excuses if Brazil fails to win the Olympic gold again. He admits anything but the title will be considered a disappointment, and that it’s time Brazil comes through to clinch the only significant tournament it is yet to win in soccer. “The pressure to win always exists in the national team,” Dunga said. “We have won the World Cup, the Copa America and other important tournaments, but we are missing the Olympic medal. Everyone here wants to leave their mark and win this tournament, which has eluded several generations of Brazilian players.”
■BASKETBALL
Nowitzki to carry flag
Basketball player Dirk Nowitzki will carry the German flag at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on Friday. The 30-year-old Dallas Mavericks forward will lead Germany’s basketball team at Beijing, after the team missed out the past two Olympics. The German Olympic Sports Union said yesterday that it chose Nowitzki to be the flag bearer because “he embodies the Olympic idea like hardly anyone else.” “It has for years been a dream for Dirk Nowitzki to be at the Olympics,” senior German Olympic official Michael Vesper said in a statement, adding that Nowitzki offers “a great example for young sportspeople.”
■BOXING
Hopes high for boxing twins
Most 12-year-old boys in Puerto Rico play video games, watch movies or go to the beach for fun. The Arroyo twins were drawn to the boxing ring. McJoe and McWilliams Arroyo, 22, have become among the best fighters in Puerto Rico, and sporting officials expect them to return with medals from the Beijing Olympics starting Friday. Never mind that the twins grew up in the northern coastal towns of Luquillo and Fajardo, which boast of some of the island’s most popular beaches. The ring still held more attraction that the waves and sun. “When we started boxing at 12 years old, it was more like a hobby,” McJoe said.
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
Taiwan last night defeated Cuba 2-0 in their World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 Group B game at the Taipei Dome and finished the group second. At the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium, South Korea yesterday defeated Australia 5-2, while Japan last night won 11-3 against the Dominican Republic. On Sunday, Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome to advance to the Super Round. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champions and Group B winners Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
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