■BASEBALL
Gred Maddux to retire
Four-time pitcher of the year Greg Maddux will announce his retirement tomorrow at the Major League Baseball winter meetings in Las Vegas. Maddux, who turns 43 in April, ranks eighth on the MLB career wins list with 355. He went 8-13 with a 4.22 ERA last season with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. Maddux made three relief appearances in the playoffs for the Dodgers this year — he had an 0.00 ERA over four innings — and then filed for free agency amid speculation he would retire. On Friday, confirmation came from the office of Maddux’s agent, Scott Boras. Maddux, his family and Boras will hold a news conference at the hotel where the meetings are being held to announce one of the greatest pitchers is finished after 23 MLB seasons.
■SKELETON
Rommel wins World Cup
Frank Rommel of Germany won his first World Cup men’s skeleton race on Friday, overcoming a low starting position to edge Martins Dukurs of Latvia. Rommel, who was disqualified in the season opener last week in Winterberg for missing a start signal, started 19th and finished third in the first heat, which was led by Dukurs. The German posted the fastest time in the second to beat Dukurs by .12 seconds. Rommel finished in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 57.41 seconds. Sandro Stielicke of Germany moved up four places after the first heat to take third. Florian Grass of Germany finished fourth to lead the overall World Cup after two of eight races. Anja Huber beat German teammate Kerstin Szymkowski in the women’s race for her second straight World Cup.
■BASKETBALL
Countries bid for 2014
Three countries competing to host the men’s basketball World Championship in 2014 delivered their bids to governing body FIBA on Friday. China and Italy included taped messages of support from NBA stars Yao Ming and Andrea Bargnani in presentations made at a theater in FIBA’s home city of Geneva. Defending world champion Spain is the third candidate. FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann said China would be a leading contender after the successful Olympic tournament in Beijing last August, which was won by the US. “China are clearly favorite in terms of coming in with the experience,” he told reporters. “Spain is the reigning world champion and Olympic silver medalist. Italy has a strong history and passion for basketball.” Turkey is scheduled to host the next world championship, in August and September 2010.
■FOOTBALL
Buffalo takes MAC title
The 12th-ranked Ball State Cardinals fumbled the ball four times and Buffalo scored off each turnover, routing the previously unbeaten team 42-24 Friday in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship game. Ball State (12-1) finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1949, but entered the game without much of a shot to bust into the Bowl Championship Series because it trailed Utah in the standings. The Bulls returned fumbles 92 and 74 yards on consecutive drives late in the third quarter to take a 28-17 lead. Buffalo (8-5) won its first MAC title, capping the program’s first bowl-eligible season since joining college football’s top tier of teams in 1999. NFL scouts at Ford Field saw Ball State quarterback Nate Davis struggle to hold onto the ball. The Cardinals fumbled four times and Davis was involved each time. Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy, meanwhile, played mistake-free football. Willy was 19-of-28 for 206 yards.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
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