■FOOTBALL
Police find shot Jaguar
Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier is in critical but stable condition after being shot in the early hours of Tuesday, the NFL team said. When contacted for information relating to the Collier incident, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office provided an incident report that did not name the victim but detailed a shooting at 2.50am on Tuesday. It referred to a handgun shooting and a report from a law-enforcement officer who attended the scene and said the victim had been found slumped over in the passenger seat of a red SUV in the parking lot in front of an apartment building. The shooting was the third of an NFL player since January last year — Denver Broncos’ Darrent Williams was shot dead after a New Years Eve party and Sean Taylor, a safety with the Washington Redskins, died after being shot during a break-in at his home near Miami in November.
■BASEBALL
Matsui off disabled list
The Houston Astros activated Japanese second baseman Kaz Matsui from the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday. Matsui was activated a few days early. He had been on the DL since Aug. 13 with an irritated disc in his lower back, and still needs a few more days before he’s ready to play, manager Cecil Cooper said. Matsui, who has missed about a third of the season with various injuries, is expected to play this weekend at Colorado. Matsui was hitting .285 with 19 steals in 337 at-bats before injury.
■Cycling
Beltran ‘B’ sample positive
The second sample provided by Spanish rider Manuel Beltran, who tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) during the Tour de France, has also tested positive for the blood booster, a source close to the dossier said on Tuesday. The test on the second sample, known as the “B” sample, was carried out by French anti-doping agency AFLD which also tested the first sample in July, the source, who does not want to be identified, told reporters. The anti-doping agency is expected officially to announce the results of the testing on the “B” sample shortly. Beltran, who rides for the Liquigas team, tested positive for EPO at the first stage of the Tour de France and was excluded from the race after the seventh stage on July 11.
■GOLF
Woods expects second kid
World No. 1 Tiger Woods and his wife Elin are expecting their second child to be born in late winter, which could delay the US golf superstar’s return to action from a knee injury. Woods announced on Tuesday that he and his wife and daughter Sam, who was born in June last year, were expecting a new addition to the family. “I have some wonderful news to report. Sam is going to be a big sister,” Woods said on his Web site. “Elin and I are proud to announce that we are expecting our second child in late winter.”
■GOLF
English policy ‘drastic’
No. 1 women’s golfer Lorena Ochoa says a new US LPGA Tour policy requiring players to be effective in English starting next year is a “little drastic.” Ochoa, from Mexico, says golfers are better judged by their performance. She was asked at a charity event in her hometown of Guadalajara on Tuesday if she thought the new policy discriminated against international players. “That is a very strong word. I wouldn’t want to use it,” said Ochoa, who speaks English. “But I do think it is a little drastic.” There are 121 international players from 26 countries on the US LPGA Tour, including 45 players from South Korea.
■SOCCER
Ballack out of qualifiers
Germany captain Michael Ballack has pulled out of forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Finland, the German soccer federation said on Tuesday. Ballack’s bruised and inflamed left foot means he will have to miss Saturday’s clash against Liechtenstein and the game in Finland four days later, the federation said. The German federation had earlier said Ballack would be out of the first match but that there had been no decision on the Helsinki fixture. German coach Joachim Loew said Ballack’s injury was not as serious as his left ankle problem which put him out of the sport for eight months last year. The 32-year-old was injured on Aug. 17 playing for Chelsea in their 4-0 thrashing of Portsmouth on the first day of the Premiership season.
■SWIMMING
Phelps to open swim center
Michael Phelps will put his US$1 million Speedo bonus to start a foundation promoting water safety and youth swimming. Joe Gromek, president and CEO of Warnaco, Speedo’s US parent company, presented a check to Phelps on NBC’s Today show on Tuesday. The company, which has sponsored Phelps since he was 16, promised him a US$1 million bonus if he tied or broke Mark Spitz’s record for most gold medals at a single Olympics. The swimmer eclipsed the mark by winning eight golds at the Beijing Games — seven of them with world-record times. Company spokeswoman Audra Silverman said Speedo International and the Warnaco Foundation would donate an additional US$200,000 to the Michael Phelps Foundation.
■CRICKET
Chappell to coach youths
Former Test captain Greg Chappell has been appointed as the new head coach of Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence. Chappell will oversee the development of Australia’s next generation of players after being hired to replace Tim Nielsen, who has taken over as coach of the Australian national side. Chappell, who also served a two-year stint as India coach, signed a three-year deal to take what is considered to be one of the most important cricket jobs in Australia. The 60-year-old Chappell was one of Australia’s most successful batsmen during his playing career in the 1970s and early 1980s. He played 87 tests, scoring 7,110 runs at an average of 53.86 and captaining his country 48 times. “Greg brings to the role a great deal of experience as player, captain and coach,” Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said. “His recent coaching experiences in India add to the key lessons and insights he will offer Australia’s emerging talent.”
■CRICKET
Hick announces retirement
Ex-England batsman Graeme Hick will quit playing cricket after this season, ending a 24-year professional career in which he struck 136 first-class centuries. Worcestershire, the English county team which Hick joined in 1984, announced the 42-year-old’s retirement yesterday in a statement on its Web site. Hick has been one of cricket’s most prolific batsmen, but the Zimbabwe-born player struggled to replicate his domestic form for England after becoming eligible to play for the national team in 1991. He scored more than 64,000 runs in all forms of the game and averaged 52.23 from 526 first-class matches. In 65 Tests, spread over 11 years, his average was only 31.32. Hick was in 1987 named as one of five Cricketers of the Year by Wisden, the sport’s main reference source, and the following year made his highest score — 405 not out in a match against Somerset.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946