The LG Twins and Samsung Lions, the top two teams in the Korea Baseball Organization as of Tuesday, faced off in a two-game series at LG’s home turf of Seoul on Saturday and Sunday. With the two splitting the series at one game apiece, it is sill unclear who will be crowned the champion of the pennant race. There are 17 and 19 games left in the regular season for LG and Samsung, respectively,The perennial powerhouse Samsung won both the pennant race and the championship “Korean Series” the past

More SportsSept. 11, 2013

Italy and the Netherlands became the first European teams to qualify for next year's World Cup, and the United States, Costa Rica and Argentina also grabbed spots in the field on Tuesday.Giorgio Chiellini scored in the 51st minute and Mario Balotelli converted a penalty in the 54th, giving Italy a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Czech Republic in Turin. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made his 136th international appearance, matching Fabio Cannavaro's Italian record.The Azzurri, a four-time World

SoccerSept. 11, 2013

Within minutes of being elected to the top job in the Olympics, Thomas Bach got a phone call from a powerful leader he'll work with closely in the next few months: Russian President Vladimir Putin.Bach, a 59-year-old German lawyer, was elected Tuesday as president of the International Olympic Committee. He succeeds Jacques Rogge, who stepped down after 12 years.Bach, the longtime favorite, defeated five candidates in a secret ballot for the most influential job in international sports, keeping t

More SportsSept. 11, 2013

An online cartoon depicting a Dominican baseball pitcher for a local team being chased by hooded Ku Klux Klan members has caused an uproar this week, forcing its authors to issue an apology and replace the controversial piece. A tandem of cartoonists, under the pen name Bounce Kim, published the strip on portal site Nate.com on Monday, as part of their weekly series dubbed “Fastball and Jokeball.” It showed Radhames Liz of the LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization running away from members

BaseballSept. 10, 2013

Looking fit as can be and maybe even better than ever, the No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal pulled away from No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Monday in a taut, tense U.S. Open final for his 13th Grand Slam title.“This is probably the most emotional one in my career,” Nadal said. “I know I had to be almost perfect to win.”They started in sunlight and finished at night, a 3-hour, 21-minute match epic punctuated by cliffhangers and plot twists and a pair of protagonists who inspired standing ova

More SportsSept. 10, 2013

Many would call Dennis Rodman a propaganda proxy for North Korea. But some may describe the retired NBA player as a potential pioneer for sports diplomacy between the authoritarian country and the United States.Rodman's news conference in Manhattan apparently reflected both those aspects.He reiterated that the North's young dictator, Kim Jong-un, is a "very good guy.""The marshal told me, 'We want people to come here, because we are not a bad country,'" Rodman said. On his second trip to Pyongya

More SportsSept. 10, 2013

MONZA, Italy (AP) ― Sebastian Vettel’s rivals have all but conceded the Formula One title after the German driver recorded his sixth victory of the season with a resilient performance to win the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.While Vettel’s win at the Belgian GP two weeks ago was clinical, he was forced to overcome a difficult start from pole position and gearbox trouble to beat Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull teammate Mark Webber.“The heartbeat was a bit higher in the car and also the pit

More SportsSept. 9, 2013

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Jay Bruce picked a good night to solve Clayton Kershaw, and Ryan Hanigan’s big double in the ninth gave the Cincinnati Reds a sweep over the Dodgers.Bruce hit two home runs for the Reds, who went into the game in third place in the NL Central, two games behind first-place St. Louis, which beat second-place Pittsburgh earlier Sunday. Bruce had three singles off the Dodgers’ ace coming into the game.Hanigan’s RBI double in the ninth drove in Zack Cozart from first base to lift Ci

BaseballSept. 9, 2013

Lee Sang-min, a retired basketball star and assistant coach for Samsung Thunders in South Korea’s professional basketball league, is reportedly undergoing divorce proceedings.Newsis on Monday reported that 41-year-old Lee had filed a lawsuit requesting a divorce and property division with his wife last year. Lee and his wife reportedly are quarrelling over the reasons for divorce and how to split their assets.The couple married in 1999, and has a daughter and a son.Lee is regarded as one of the

More SportsSept. 9, 2013

Fresh off a resounding win over Haiti, South Korea will take on a depleted Croatia in their football friendly this week.The match will be held at Jeonju World Cup Stadium, about 240 kilometers south of Seoul, at 8 p.m. Tuesday. It will be the second meeting this year between the 56th-ranked South Korea and No. 8 Croatia.South Korea defeated Haiti 4-1 last Friday to snap its four-game winless streak under head coach Hong Myung-bo, who took over the national team in June. The four-goal outburst wa

SoccerSept. 9, 2013

Fussing with her skirt and flubbing her shots, Serena Williams was troubled in the U.S. Open final by the swirling air and the strong play of Victoria Azarenka.After one miss, Williams declared, ``I can't play in this wind.'' After blowing a big second-set lead, Williams chucked her racket toward the sideline, and it bounced back onto the court.In the end, Williams pulled herself together, as she usually does when it matters the most. Facing her first test of the past two weeks, the No. 1-seeded

More SportsSept. 9, 2013

With the IOC fixing what it admits was a big mistake, wrestling returned to the Olympic fold Sunday after seven months in limbo and promised to do what it takes to keep its place for the long run.Presenting new leadership and a revamped sport, wrestling easily defeated bids from baseball-softball and squash to secure a spot in the program for the 2020 and 2024 Games.The result capped a frantic six-month campaign by wrestling body FILA to save its Olympic status after the IOC executive board surp

More SportsSept. 9, 2013