■TENNIS
Lu bows out in Tenerife
Lu Yen-hsun’s run at the Tenerife Challenger came to a disappointing end when he retired from his match against Marco Chiudinelli trailing 6-1, 4-0. Having not dropped a set in his first two matches at the US$35,000 hard court tournament, it was a different story against the 304th-ranked, 27-year-old Swiss qualifier who earned himself a semi-final clash against Spain’s Ivan Navarro. It was the third time Lu had played the Swiss Davis Cup player, with the Taiwanese now trailing 2-1 in their career head to head.
■SUMO
Wrestlers to get face masks
Japan’s sumo authority will give hundreds of wrestlers anti-virus face masks and liquid hand soap to keep swine flu out of the national sport, a spokeswoman said yesterday. “We have decided to distribute 10 masks to each one” of the more than 1,000 members of the Japan Sumo Association and their families, a spokeswoman said. Reports said the association will buy 100,000 masks. The association will also send anti-bacterial liquid soap to sumo stables with a recommendation that wrestlers wash their hands often, as well as gargle and take other health measures.
■BOXING
Death camp boxer dies at 86
Salamo Arouch, a Jewish boxer who survived the Auschwitz death camp by fighting exhibition bouts for Nazi officers and inspired a Hollywood movie about his life, has died in Israel, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday. He was 86. Haaretz did not give the cause of death of the Greek-born fighter, but quoted his daughter as saying he had been unwell since suffering a stroke 15 years ago. Born in the Greek town of Saloniki, Arouch became middleweight champion of the Balkans, but his professional career was cut short by World War II. Like thousands of other Saloniki Jews, he was deported to Auschwitz. Arouch, ordered by the Nazis to fight other prisoners for their entertainment, survived the camp. His story was the basis for the 1989 movie Triumph of the Spirit, starring Willem Dafoe.
■SKIING
Skier AWOL with Witnesses
A Nepali ski racer has disappeared from his team’s base in the French Alps after joining a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses, his coach said on Thursday. “Uttam Rayamajhi, 17, vanished from the team ski base at Les Arcs on Monday with no money, minimal French and very little clothing. He has not been seen or heard from since and team members fear for his safety,” Richard Morley said in a statement. “He was approached by Jehovah’s Witnesses and recruited into their church. The day after attending his first service with the sect he vanished from the team’s mountain chalet home during a heavy rainstorm.”
■GOLF
Daly gets into swing
Dane Soren Hansen broke the PGA Catalunya Stadium course record with a nine-under 63 at the Spanish Open on Thursday. Hansen took a one-stroke lead after the first round with nine birdies and an eagle. Meanwhile, twice major champion John Daly, who has lost nearly 30kg in weight and revamped his swing while serving a six-month US tour bans, signed for a two-under 70. “I was pretty happy with the way I hit the ball,” he said. “There’s a big change in my swing now. My elbow used to be about three feet [90cm] away from my body and now I can get it up to my ribs. It used to just hang on my love-handles and now I can get through the ball a bit more.”
Marloon Herrera was crying — happy tears. With Cuba trailing in the fifth inning of its Little League World Series (LLWS) opener on Thursday, Herrera lined a two-run double to give his team the lead. When the Czech Republic, representing Europe-Africa, made a pitching change, he ran over to give his third base coach a hug. Cuba went on to win 4-1. It was the first game at this year’s tournament for both sides, but it was also the beginning of Cuba’s second appearance in the series ever — and it was emotional. “You breathe baseball in Cuba,” manager Everaldo Machado said on
Taiwan on Friday beat Australia 11-0 at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Taiwan are represented at the tournament by Taoyuan’s Gueishan Elementary School, who won the Asia-Pacific regional tournament to earn the trip to the US. Australia are represented by the Hills Red team from Sydney. Taiwan advanced to a game tomorrow against Santa Clara, representing Cuba, who won 4-1 against the Czech Republic’s Brno, the Europe-Africa regional qualifiers. Australian starter Sayre Howick had a tough time controlling his pitches at Volunteer Stadium, one of which allowed Taiwan to open their account. They scored six in the inning and
World Boxing, an international amateur boxing organization formed last year after a breakdown in relations between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Boxing Association (IBA), has announced the admission of Taiwan, along with four other nations, into its growing list of members. In a statement released on its Web site on Friday, the Swiss- based organization said that in addition to Taiwan, admitted as Chinese Taipei, Bhutan, Ecuador, Fiji and Pakistan have also become members. The new members all have well-rounded national and international boxing programs as well as transparency in the leadership and management of their national boxing programs,
COOLED DOWN: Du Plessis apologized after the fight for comments about his Nigerian-born opponent, after Adesanya said he planned to take the belt back to Africa South African Dricus du Plessis yesterday took a flurry of body hits across four rounds before defeating Israel Adesanya by submission to retain his middleweight championship at UFC 305. After scoring some early takedowns, Du Plessis (22-2) had to withstand a flurry of body strikes from Adesanya through the middle rounds, which appeared to be taking a toll on the 30-year-old South African as the fight progressed. However, a left hook followed by three rights helped bring Adesanya down, giving Du Plessis the opening he wanted as he swiftly got the choke hold that forced the Nigerian-born New Zealander to tap out