■ FOOTBALL
Tebow wins second Maxwell
Tim Tebow won the Maxwell Award for the second year on Thursday, edging Texas’ Colt McCoy and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell for the honor given to college football’s best all-round player. The Florida star joined Notre Dame quarterback Johnny Lattner as the only two-time winners of the Maxwell Award. Lattner won in 1952-53. Tebow, who will lead Florida against Sam Bradford’s Oklahoma in the national championship game next month, won the Heisman Trophy last year and, today in New York, could become the second player to win it twice. The versatile Tebow threw 28 touchdown passes and only two interceptions.
■ BOXING
Adamek captures title
Poland’s Tomasz Adamek captured the International Boxing Federation cruiserweight title on Thursday, taking a split decision to dethrone American Steve Cunningham. Adamek won by 115-112 and 116-110 in the eyes of two judges while the third scored Cunnignham a 114-112 winner even though Adamek knocked down the US fighter three times in the title bout. Adamek, a former World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion, improved to 36-1 with his fifth victory in a row while Cunningham — who was sent to the canvas in the second, fourth and eighth round — fell to 21-2.
■ SAILING
Volvo begins third stage
The eight competitors in the Volvo Race around the world leave the southwestern Indian port of Kochi today headed for Singapore in a grueling third stage taking the race through to Christmas. Leaders Ericsson 4, skippered by Brazilian Torben Grael, will be bidding to extend their advantage after setting out from Willingdon Island, the modern port area which serves Kochi. After negotiating the southern tip of India and passing Sri Lanka the crews, negotiating northeastern winds, will speed towards the Malacca Strait, then close in on Singapore following the obligatory passage north of Sumatra.
■ SWIMMING
Four world records broken
Four world records were broken at the European short-course championships on Thursday, with the Italian men’s relay team setting two on its way to winning gold in the 4x50m medley final. Mirco Di Tora, Alessandro Terrin, Marco Belotti and Filippo Magnini finished in 1 minute, 32.91 seconds, 0.85 seconds faster than the world record set by the Russian team earlier in the day. In Thursday’s first heat, the Italians broke the 2006 world record of 1:34.06 set by Germany in Helsinki, Finland. The Russians broke that mark in the following heat. The Russian and German teams tied for second in the final, finishing in 1:33.31. Amaury Leveaux of France set a record in the semi-finals of the 50m freestyle. He finished in 20.48, beating the mark of 20.64 set by Roland Schoeman of South Africa on Sept. 6 in Germiston, South Africa.
■ BOXING
Agbeko keeps title
Ghana’s Joseph Agbeko kept his International Boxing Federation bantamweight crown on Thursday with a majority decision over Nicaraguan southpaw William Gonzalez. The African fighter improved to 26-1 with his fifth triumph in a row, taking the decision on two judges’ scorecards by 116-112 while the third judge scored the bout a 114-114 draw. Gonzalez fell to 21-3, ending his five-fight win streak. Agbeko’s victory was the first defense of the title he won in September last year when he stopped Luis Alberto Perez in the seventh round.
■ GOLF
Pavin to captain US team
Former US Open champion Corey Pavin was appointed US captain for the 2010 Ryder Cup by the PGA of America on Thursday. The next Ryder Cup will be staged in Britain at Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales. The US won the Ryder Cup for the first time in nine years in Louisville, Kentucky in September. Pavin, a former US Open champion who has played three times in the Ryder Cup and won twice, said the pressure in the match was unequaled within the sport. “Winning the US Open is a walk in the park compared with the Ryder Cup [in terms of pressure],” he told a news conference.
■ SOCCER
Jamaica to face Grenada
Jamaica defeated Guadeloupe 2-0 and Grenada upset Cuba 6-5 in a penalty shootout in the Caribbean championship semi-finals on Thursday. Jamaica and Grenada will return to the National Stadium tomorrow for the final. Jamaica won the last of their three Caribbean titles in 2005. It was coming off a World Cup qualifying campaign in which they won their last three matches, all at home, but missed out on advancing on goal difference. Grenada were runners-up in the inaugural tournament in 1989 and haven’t been back to the final until now. They eliminated Trinidad and Tobago to reach the semi-finals and qualified for the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time.
■ ATHLETICS
Murofushi receives bronze
Japanese hammer thrower Koji Murofushi said yesterday he was honored to receive the Beijing Olympic bronze four months after the Games, but regretted the doping scandal that handed it to him. The International Olympic Committee executive board on Thursday stripped the silver and bronze Belarussian medalists of their awards after finding traces of testosterone. Murofushi, who originally placed fifth, was given the bronze. “The Olympics were over a long time ago, but I think it is very honorable,” Murofushi told a nationally televised news conference held in the central Japanese city of Toyota.
■ BADMINTON
China pulls players
China has stunned the badminton world by withdrawing all its players from next week’s lucrative season-ending Super Series finals. In explaining the pull-out, China Badminton Association secretary-general Liu Fengyan cited “a hectic calendar, risk of aggravating injuries and an upcoming three-month training camp.” It means the US$500,000 tournament will be played without Olympic men’s singles champion Lin Dan, men’s doubles silver medalists Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, and women’s doubles gold medalists Du Jing and Yu Yang.
■ SOCCER
Juninho, Cris fined by UEFA
UEFA fined Lyon captain Juninho and fellow Brazilian Cris on Thursday for deliberately getting booked in a Champions League group match in order to serve a suspension before the knockout phase. Midfielder Juninho was fined 10,000 euros (US$13,300) and defender Cris 15,000 euros by competition organizer UEFA’s disciplinary panel. Both players had collected two yellow cards before the French champion’s Nov. 25 game against Fiorentina in Italy, and were booked again to earn a one-match ban. The players later said they had deliberately committed fouls in order to trigger the suspensions for Lyon’s final group match on Wednesday against Germany’s Bayern Munich.
‘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