■ BASEBALL
Rodriquez to switch sides
Alex Rodriguez will switch sides to play for the Dominican Republic at next year’s World Baseball Classic. Rodriguez made the announcement on Saturday while playing at a charity golf tournament hosted by friend David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox at Punta Cana. “I am 100 percent sure that I will play for the Dominican Republic team,” he said. “This time, there will be no doubts and it is a dream of my mom’s that I intend to fulfill.” Rodriguez played for the US in the 2006 inaugural Classic and was largely criticized by fans in the Dominican Republic and across Latin America.
■NORDIC SKIING
Moan wins World Cup
Norway’s Magnus Moan won a World Cup Nordic Combined competition on his home trails on Saturday, edging runner-up Jason Lamy Chappuis of France by 0.7 seconds in the 10km cross-country ski race. “What a wonderful day,” Moan said. “It’s great to win on my home track. This is the race where I feel the most pressure. I had really good skis today and when I’m among the leaders on the final straightaway I know that I have one of the best finishing kicks.” He proved it again after one of the tightest finishes in years. Only 4.2 seconds separated the top six racers. Anssi Koivuranta, the overall leader from Finland, was 1.5 seconds back in third.
■BOXING
Khan beats Fagan in two
Amir Khan overwhelmed Oisin Fagan in two rounds to capture the WBA international lightweight title on Saturday and suggest that his first-round loss in his previous fight was a minor setback. Knocked out in 54 seconds by Breidis Prescott of Colombia in September, the big-hitting Khan put US-based Irishman Fagan down twice in the opening round with big right hands at London’s ExCel Arena. He knocked down Fagan again with another fast combination in the second and referee Mickey Vann stopped the fight at 1 minute, 37 seconds of the round.
■BOBSLED
Lange wins 40th World Cup
Andre Lange of Germany won his 40th World Cup bobsled race in Saturday’s two-man competition. The two-time world and Olympic champion and his partner Kevin Kuske finished the course in 1 minute, 52.60 seconds over two runs for their first victory this season. The American pair of Steven Holcomb and Justin Olsen finished second, 0.25 seconds back. Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter of Switzerland, who won the first race of the season, took third. Lange took the lead in the World Cup two-man bobsled standings with 435 points, 10 ahead of Hefti. The German pair of Sandra Kiriasis and Berit Wiacker won the women’s race in a time of 1:55.71.
■RALLYING
Spectators killed in crash
Two spectators were killed and three others injured, including an eight-year-old girl, after a car smashed into the crowd watching a rally in Prague, Czech Republic, on Saturday, police said. A Peugeot 307 WRC, driven by the Polish-British pairing of Leszek Kuzaj and Craig Parry, came off the course in Reporyje, in the south-west suburbs of the Czech capital. In rainy conditions, the car skidded on a bend, bounced off an electricity pylon before hurtling into the watching crowd. A 26-year-old Pole, believed to be a close friend of Kuzaj, died at the scene while the second spectator died later in the day.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
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