■ 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.
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
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
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
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