The Korea Herald

Beckett pitches no-hitter

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ― Josh Beckett pitched the first no-hitter of his stellar career and the first in the majors this season, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 on Sunday.Beckett struck out six, walked three and didn’t come close to allowing a hit against a lineup that included two former NL MVPs and four former All-Stars.“I don’t think I had no-hit stuff,” he said. “I just really kept them guessing.”The 34-year-old right-hander, whose career was almost derailed las

BaseballMay 26, 2014

FIFA takes final look at Brazilian host cities

SAO PAULO (AP) ― FIFA is beginning its final tour of World Cup host cities ahead of football’s showcase event.With kickoff less than 20 days away, the governing body is having one last look at the cities’ often troubled preparations across Brazil.FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke starts the second half of his inspection tour to the 12 host cities on Monday. He visited six cities last week and will tour the others through Thursday.It is the last time Valcke is expected to check on the host cit

SoccerMay 26, 2014

Korea gears up for Tunisia clash

South Korea will host Tunisia in the final tune-up match at home ahead of the FIFA World Cup on Wednesday at Seoul World Cup Stadium, giving fans their first glimpse of the team that will represent the country in Brazil next month.The kickoff for head coach Hong Myung-bo’s 23-man squad will be at 8 p.m. It will be the first of two matches South Korea will play before traveling to Brazil for the big tournament.South Korea will fly to Miami on Friday and will take on Ghana on June 9 before hopping

SoccerMay 26, 2014

Korda makes late charge to win Airbus

MOBILE, Alabama (AP) ― Jessica Korda won the Airbus LPGA Classic on Sunday for her second victory of the year, birdieing four of the last five holes to break out of a tight pack.Korda made a breaking 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th for a 7-under 65 and a one-stroke victory over Anna Nordqvist.Also the winner in the season-opening event in the Bahamas, Korda played the back nine in 6-under 30 to finish at 20-under 268 on The Crossings course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Magnolia G

GolfMay 26, 2014

Foreign KBL player kept in dark about botched naturalization

The Korean Basketball Association’s attempts to naturalize star forward Aaron Haynes ahead of the Incheon Asian Games this year have been thwarted by legal restrictions, but the organization kept the foreign athlete in the dark through the whole process, the American basketball player told The Korea Herald on Monday.In an effort to boost the Korean team’s roster for the upcoming September-October tournament, the KBA had tried to grant Haynes ― who has been playing in Korea’s professional basketb

BaseballMay 26, 2014

Kings of Europe

Real Madrid players and fans celebrate their Champions League victory on Saturday. (AFP-Yonhap)LISBON (AP) ― Real Madrid’s record 10th European title will be written down as a 4-1 victory over Atletico Madrid. In reality, “La Decima” was a lot harder to come by.Atletico was minutes away from its first Champions League title Saturday when Sergio Ramos tied it for Real with a header in injury time. Real then broke down Atletico with three goals in the last period of extra time.“It’s the most impor

SoccerMay 25, 2014

Korea holds closed-door practice

Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo (Yonhap)South Korea’s World Cup team closed off its practice on Friday, officials said, though there was no strategic reasoning behind the move.“There really isn’t a special reason for holding practice behind closed doors,” an official with the Korea Football Association said. “The team just wanted to train in a quiet setting.” This will be the second time that South Korea will practice without the media since opening the camp on May 12 at the National Football Cen

SoccerMay 23, 2014

Cantu sorry for racist tweet

Doosan Bears infielder Jorge Cantu apologized and said he’s against racism after retweeting an offensive post which suggested Koreans look alike.The former Major League Baseball player, who arrived in South Korea this season, called the tweet a “terrible mistake.” Some angry fans had called for him to be sacked.Cantu retweeted the message, titled “Desafio” or “Challenge” in Portuguese, which had a photo of Korean schoolchildren with one person’s face photoshopped onto different bodies.It contain

BaseballMay 23, 2014

Johnson fires 65 to take Colonial lead

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ― Dustin Johnson had played Colonial only once before, six years ago when he didn’t even make it to the final round.In his return to Hogan’s Alley, Johnson took a one-stroke lead after the first round.Johnson shot a bogey-free 5-under 65 on Thursday, driving a lot of 3-irons off the tees into the fairways and hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation.“I’ve got to keep doing what I’m doing,” Johnson said. “I’ve got a pretty good game plan for the golf course off the tee. So I’m

GolfMay 23, 2014

Texas power surge

DETROIT (AP) ― On a day full of bad news on the injury front, at least the Texas Rangers could enjoy a victory.Choo Shin-soo homered, Chris Gimenez had four hits and the Rangers rolled to a 9-2 victory over the slumping Detroit Tigers on Thursday.This was supposed to be Prince Fielder’s first game back in Detroit after the Tigers traded him in the offseason, but the big first baseman didn’t make the trip because of a herniated disk in his neck that could keep him out the rest of the season. Texa

BaseballMay 23, 2014

McIlroy breaks off engagement to Wozniacki

WENTWORTH, England (AFP) ― An emotional Rory McIlroy on Wednesday announced he had broken off his engagement and split with Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki only days after sending out the wedding invitations.The 25-year-old Northern Irishman and two-time major champion said the issuing of the invitations had made him aware that he was not ready for marriage.“There is no right way to end a relationship that has been so important to two people,” he explained through a statement issued by h

More SportsMay 22, 2014

McIlroy breaks off engagement to Wozniacki

Park, Lewis go head to head at Mobile LPGA tourney

MOBILE, Alabama (AP) ― Park In-bee is back defending her No. 1 ranking, instead of watching others try to take it away from her.Second-ranked Stacy Lewis couldn’t take advantage of Park’s absence last week at the Kingsmill Championship in Virginia, but they’ll be competing head to head again at the Airbus LPGA Classic starting Thursday on The Crossings course at Magnolia.“It would be nice to get it the way Adam Scott did, but I want to win tournaments at the end of the day,” Lewis said Wednesday

GolfMay 22, 2014

Park, Lewis go head to head at Mobile LPGA tourney

Adam Scott plays as No. 1 for first time at Colonial

Adam Scott downplayed the world ranking and the idea of being the No. 1 player the past few months.“Maybe I was trying to take some pressure off myself and just think about playing golf rather than other things that happen from it,” Scott said Wednesday. “I think that’s what I need to do now.”The Australian finally made it to the top of the world ranking, overtaking injured Tiger Woods after a week at home in the Bahamas. Scott will play as No. 1 for the first time when he tees off Thursday at t

GolfMay 22, 2014

Elder statesman Kwak hopes to be ‘friendly’ leader on World Cup team

South Korea has assembled its youngest-ever World Cup squad for this year’s tournament in Brazil, with defensive back Kwak Tae-hwi the oldest member at age 32.He’s the only player over 30 on a team that is on average 25.9 years old, nearly two years younger than the previous World Cup team from four years ago.In a culture where seniority can often take precedence over merit in hierarchy, it is easy to imagine Kwak as the forceful voice over younger teammates off the field.Yet in an interview bef

SoccerMay 22, 2014

Elder statesman Kwak hopes to be ‘friendly’ leader on World Cup team

Ryu returns to beat Mets

NEW YORK (AP) ― Three long balls and a healthy Ryu Hyun-jin made it a gratifying night for the Dodgers.Adrian Gonzalez homered for the third straight game, Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez hit back-to-back shots and Los Angeles defeated the New York Mets 4-3 on Wednesday.Ryu (4-2) came off the disabled list and pitched the Dodgers to their 11th victory in 12 meetings with the Mets dating to July 1, 2012. Ramirez drove in two runs and Los Angeles enjoyed most of the vocal support from the 23,721 fa

BaseballMay 22, 2014

Spurs roll to 2-0 lead with 112-77 rout of Thunder

SAN ANTONIO (AP) ― The San Antonio Spurs are rolling toward a return to the NBA Finals, and the Oklahoma City Thunder look powerless to slow them down. Tony Parker scored 22 points, Danny Green made seven 3-pointers and added 21, and the Spurs used a dominant third quarter to decimate the Thunder 112-77 on Wednesday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.Tim Duncan added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Manu Ginobili and Boris Diaw had 11 points apiece off the bench in San Anto

More SportsMay 22, 2014

Ryu Hyun-jin earns win in first start in 24 days

Making his first start in nearly a month, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a victory against the New York Mets on the road on Wednesday.Ryu improved to 4-2 on the season after giving up two earned runs on nine hits in six innings and striking out a season-high nine batters at Citi Field. The Dodgers defeated the Mets 4-3, powered by three solo home runs from the heart of their order.Ryu's ERA remained at 3.00. All four of his wins this year have come away from Dodger Stadium.This w

BaseballMay 22, 2014

U.S. sports envoys hope to inspire underprivileged kids to succeed

Former American basketball All-Stars Alex English and Nykesha Sales believe playing sports can open up different opportunities in life for young people.Recently appointed as “Sports Envoys” by the U.S. State Department, English and Sales, currently visiting South Korea, said they cherish the chance to teach children the value of basketball, which transcends making plays on the court.“We teach them the game of basketball and also talk about some of the things we went through as young basketball p

More SportsMay 21, 2014

Age knows no limits in golf

Billy Payne wore a smile as wide as the Augusta National fairways as he watched eight kids file out of the room with their trophies from the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt Championship on the Sunday before the Masters.“We’re going to be hearing from some of these kids again,” he said.Yes, but six weeks later?An 11-year-old girl who won her age group in the youth competition before the Masters has played her way into the U.S. Women’s Open next month at Pinehurst No. 2.Lucy Li, a sixth grader with

GolfMay 21, 2014

Park Byung-ho on pace to hit 50 homers

After launching two home runs on Tuesday, Park Byung-ho of the Nexen Heroes put himself on pace to reach a slugging milestone in the ongoing Korea Baseball Organization season.Park belted his league-leading 15th and 16th homers against the Hanwha Eagles on Tuesday, helping the Heroes to a 3-1 victory at their home, Mokdong Stadium in Seoul.With 16 homers in 38 games, Park could reach 53 homers by the end of the 128-game season and become only the third KBO player to hit the half-century mark.Lee

BaseballMay 21, 2014