■OLYMPICS
Local veteran dies aged 96
Henry Hsu (徐亨), a former member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), passed away at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital on Tuesday at the age of 96. A spokesman for the hospital said Hsu died from heart failure on Tuesday afternoon, six months after he was admitted to the hospital suffering from uremia and pneumonia. Hsu made a name for himself as an athlete by winning a gold medal in volleyball at the Ninth Far East Games in Tokyo in 1930 and in soccer at the 10th Far East Games in 1934. He later became a successful hotel tycoon. Hsu headed the Republic of China Olympic Committee between 1973 and 1974. He was elected to the IOC in 1970 and retired from it in 1988, according to the IOC’s Web site.
■YACHTING
Sailor presumed dead
A 72-year-old Slovenian aiming to become the oldest man to sail non-stop around the world is presumed dead after his yacht was found abandoned off Australia’s west coast, authorities said yesterday. Jure Sterk set off from New Zealand in his 9m yacht in October 2007, hoping to make history both as the oldest man to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and in the smallest boat without an engine. He kept contact with amateur radio enthusiasts, and last reported in early last month when he was believed to be 1,900km from the west Australian coast, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said. Sterk encountered some bad weather around Dec. 26, but told ham radio contacts he was not in danger, an AMSA spokeswoman said. A month later a merchant vessel spotted the badly damaged yacht abandoned and without its lifeboat 1,200km from the coast. Medical experts advised AMSA that there was no chance of him surviving the period since his last radio contact in open seas, and Jiggins said he was now presumed dead. Sterk never activated his emergency distress beacon, and his fate would remain a mystery, she added.
■BASEBALL
Bonds sample positive
Barry Bonds’ urine sample that he provided as part of the anonymous testing that baseball conducted in 2003 has tested positive for performance-enhancing substances, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Bonds had provided samples that did not test positive under Major League Baseball’s drug-testing program, but those samples were retested after they were seized in a 2004 raid, the newspaper reported. The new information could be a key factor in Bonds’ perjury trial, which is slated to begin on March 2. Citing sources, the newspaper reported last week that authorities detected anabolic steroids in urine samples linked to Bonds that they gathered in their investigation.
■RALLYING
Mitsubishi drops rally
Mitsubishi Motors will no longer compete in the Dakar Rally for financial reasons, the company said yesterday. The announcement came as Japan’s fourth-largest automaker said its group net loss will amount to ¥60 billion (US$670 million) in the fiscal year through March. “The sudden deterioration of the global economy made it necessary for the company to focus its resources more tightly,” Mitsubishi said in a statement. In its 26 entries in the Dakar Rally, Mitsubishi Pajeros won the rally a total of 12 times, including seven consecutive victories from 2001 to 2007. The Japanese manufacturer finished seventh in the car section of this year’s race.
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
“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
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