Athletes charmed by Korea‘s women

Athletes participating in the Incheon Indoor and Martial Art Games have been captivated by the beauty of Korean women. Some even made reference to Snow White. Many South Asian men are known to prefer Korean, Chinese and Japanese women with fair skin, but this time Middle Eastern athletes joined the club.Abbas Qali, a 20-year-old from the Kuwaiti national swimming team, spoke about his knowledge of Korea before arriving here. “Korea is well known as an IT powerhouse. Ask anyone in the Middle East

More SportsJuly 4, 2013

‘Quick adapt to oil patterns will determine the game’

How quickly players adapt to different oil patterns will determine the medals in the team bowling events, according to a technical delegate of the Games.“Players need to choose a different ball, and need to read the oil lane depending on short or long oil pattern,” said Danny Santos, the technical director of the Asian Bowling Federation.Unlike the singles and doubles events that used only short oil pattern lanes, bowlers are to play short and long pattern alternatively in the team events. Four

More SportsJuly 4, 2013

Team Korea off to good start in bowling

Team Korea got off to a good start in the men’s team bowling, standing atop of the qualifying round after three games on short oil pattern on Wednesday. The men’s singles silver medalist Kim Jun-young led the host team, rolling 259 and 207 in second and third game to finish with 678, while the double’s gold duo Shin Seung-hyun, Park Jong-woo and the Guangzhou medalist Cho Young-seon contributed 674, 669 and 653, respectively, to help Korea finish atop of the group table with total 2674.The 2009

More SportsJuly 4, 2013

Bid cities, presidential contenders to make case

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ― With the voting just over two months away, the bidding for the 2020 Olympics and the race for the IOC presidency are reaching a pivotal stage.Both campaigns come together this week in Lausanne as the three bid cities and six presidential candidates make vital presentations to the voters ― the 100-plus members of the International Olympic Committee.Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo make their pitches to the IOC assembly on Wednesday, with the Turkish city having the most at

More SportsJuly 3, 2013

Host S. Korea leads halfway through Asian Indoor Games

Host South Korea is leading the medal count halfway through an indoor multi-sport competition for Asian athletes.Through Tuesday’s action at the ongoing Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, South Korea has grabbed 14 gold medals and 37 medals overall. The event is being held in Incheon, a metropolitan city about 40 kilometers west of Seoul.China has also won 14 gold medals but trails the host nation in the total tally with 31 medals overall. Thailand is in a distant third with seven gold and 12

More SportsJuly 3, 2013

New faces abound in semis

LONDON (AP) ― Trailing 5-4 in her first Wimbledon quarterfinal, Sloane Stephens already had saved two set points and was about to serve at deuce when a fairly nondescript match became anything but.Raindrops were falling and Stephens’ opponent, 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli, was trying to persuade a tournament official the Court 1 grass was dangerously slick. Spectators were booing and derisively whistling, angry at the prospect of play being suspended.Eventually, Bartoli got her way. They stoppe

More SportsJuly 3, 2013

One more leg for Slam, or is it?

The good news for LPGA Tour commissioner Mike Whan is that his sport is dominating the golf conversation, which is rare.For the last two days, it seems like every time Whan turns on TV is he hearing about Park In-bee, and that’s how it should be. When she completed a masterful week of putting and precision at Sebonack Golf Club, the 24-year-old South Korean had won the U.S. Women’s Open for her third straight major this year.Next up is a chance for Park to do what no golfer has done in the histo

GolfJuly 3, 2013

Korea’s young, daring duo

Park Jong-woo and Shin Seung-hyeon are the two youngest male players on the bowling national team. On Tuesday evening the pair took the match against the Japanese team in the finals for the men’s doubles to finally claim team Korea‘s first gold medal.“I am not nervous, but it is true that the Japanese team has done steadily well throughout the games, maintaining a high score,” remarked 23-yeard-old Shin before the final. “There are great aspects if a tournament is held in my home country, but si

More SportsJuly 3, 2013

Volunteers give visitors a taste of Korean culture

At Anyang Hogye Gymnasium, many volunteers and athletes are wearing the same multicolored bracelet. Volunteers from Anyang City had come together and made the bracelets called “Jang-myung-roo” to make a bit of Korean tradition known to participants in the Inheon Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.“We made around 200-300 bracelets together. International athletes like it when we give the bracelets to them, and they sometimes give their national badges in return,” said Mi-kyung Kim, a volunteer a

More SportsJuly 3, 2013

Singapore back atop of bowling medal table

Singapore has emerged as a bowling powergouse, winning its second gold medal in the sport in the women’s doubles on Wednesday.The women’s singles gold medalist Daphne Tan and her partner Bernice Lim helped Singapore beat the odds to defeat the defending champion Son Yun-hee and Hwang Yeon-ju 441-393 in the final.The gold saw the country top the medal table in bowling with two gold and two bronze medals, ahead of Korea with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals. Tan, who became the country’s

More SportsJuly 3, 2013

Hong Kong gears up for last medals bid

Hong Kong‘s swim team will reach for its last haul of medals on the Game’s last day of swimming.On Wednesday, Hong Kong advanced into six finals -- the women‘s and men’s 100m individual medley, women’s and men’s 100m freestyle, women’s 50m breaststroke and women’s 4x100m medley relay. This leaves out just one category of seven, the men‘s 4x100m medley relay.“Our team always performs well at international events. We have collected the right number of medals at the Games, just different colors,” s

More SportsJuly 3, 2013

Paul agrees to extension with Clips

Chris Paul’s answer was brief, just like his time on the free agent market.“I’M IN!!!” he wrote Monday on Twitter.He will be staying with the Clippers, the longtime losers he helped turned into a division champion in just two seasons.Dwight Howard will need more time to think.Free agency opened Monday in the NBA with the focus on the pair of Los Angeles All-Stars, though Paul took himself off the market only hours after shopping season started.Agent Leon Rose confirmed Paul’s return, which had b

More SportsJuly 2, 2013

Williams ousted at Wimbledon

LONDON (AP) ― For 34 matches over 4 1/2 months, on hard, clay or grass courts, Serena Williams was unbeaten ― and, in the minds of many, unbeatable.So it was apt, somehow, that the longest winning streak in women’s tennis since 2000 would end at this memorably unpredictable edition of Wimbledon, where up is down, where seedings and pedigree mean nothing whatsoever, where even five-time champion Williams looked lost at the start and, most surprisingly of all, the finish of her fourth-round match.

More SportsJuly 2, 2013

Blatter: Confed Cup a success

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Monday declared the Confederations Cup a success despite clashes between police and protesters near some matches.As host nation Brazil was beating Spain in Sunday’s final of the 2014 World Cup warmup tournament, police officers were using tear gas canisters and stun grenades outside Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium.Blatter said he was “not going to discuss” police actions to repel protests outside some of the grounds in Brazil over the last t

SoccerJuly 2, 2013

Reds rough up Giants in rain-shortened game

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Things had gotten so bad for Cincinnati’s offense that the Reds couldn’t even remember the last time anything amounted to a rally. Finally, they got a reference point.Todd Frazier homered and drove in four runs Monday night, leading the Reds out of their offensive slump to an 8-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants in a game shortened to six innings because of rain.Frazier had an RBI single and a three-run homer off left-hander Michael Kickham (0-3), who has been hit hard in

BaseballJuly 2, 2013

PGA Tour to adopt ban of anchored strokes

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (AP) ― The PGA Tour said Monday it would follow a new rule that bans the anchored putting stroke used by four of the last six major champions, asking instead Monday for a temporary reprieve for those who play the game for fun.The announcement Monday after a PGA Tour board meeting is the final piece of confirmation from a major golf organization for Rule 14-1b, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2016 when the next “Rules of Golf” is published. The rule makes it illegal for playe

GolfJuly 2, 2013