Sharapova, Li ...advance to semis

MELBOURNE (AP) ― Maria Sharapova continued her dominating form at the Australian Open with a straight-set win over Ekatrina Makarova on Tuesday, conceding only nine games in five matches en route to a semifinal against Li Na.No. 2-ranked Sharapova had a 6-2, 6-2 quarterfinal win over fellow Russian Makarova on Rod Laver Arena and has spent just 5 hours, 15 minutes on court so far in the tournament. That’s an unprecedented run in Australia.“To be honest, those are not the stats you want to be kno

More SportsJan. 22, 2013

Volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung’s status in limbo

The latest contract talks between the volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung and her South Korean club have fallen through, team officials said Tuesday, putting Kim’s playing future in further limbo.According to the volleyball team Heungguk Life Pink Spiders, the club’s general manager Kwon Kwang-young traveled to Turkey last week to finalize Kim’s transfer to the Turkish club, Fenerbahce.Team officials said Kim demanded that her deal with Heungguk Life be terminated by June 30 this year and refused to

More SportsJan. 22, 2013

Ravens set up Harbaugh battle in Super Bowl

FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (AP) ― Joe Flacco outdueled Tom Brady, throwing three touchdown passes in the second half and leading the Baltimore Ravens to their first Super Bowl in 12 years with a 28-13 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday for the AFC championship.The win sets up the first Super Bowl coached by brothers, Baltimore’s John Harbaugh and San Francisco’s Jim. The 49ers won the NFC title earlier Sunday 28-24 at Atlanta.The 49ers have been listed as 5-point favorites.Baltimore

More SportsJan. 21, 2013

Koo helps Augsburg roll

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ― Nuremberg came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at home against Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga on Sunday, while Sascha Moelders scored two gifted goals to help Augsburg win 3-2 at Fortuna Duesseldorf.Hamburg forward Son Heung-min wasted two late chances to secure a victory, while Duesseldorf was denied a goal in injury time that would have leveled the match.Koreans also played a big part in Augsburg’s win. Moelders notched the first in the 40th when defender Juanan tried

SoccerJan. 21, 2013

S. Korean speed skater Lee Sang-hwa sets world record

South Korean female speed skater Lee Sang-hwa has set a world record in 500 meters.Lee won the Speed Skating World Cup race in Calgary Sunday with 36.80 seconds, taking 0.14 seconds off the previous record set by Yu Jing of China last January. Yu was the first woman to break the 37-second mark in 500ｍ.Heather Richardson of the U.S. was second at 37.42 seconds, followed by Margot Boer of the Netherlands at 37.54. Yu was a distant fourth at 37.66.Lee, the 2010 Olympic champion in 500ｍ, has won all

More SportsJan. 21, 2013

Sharapova into quarterfinals

MELBOURNE (AP) ― Maria Sharapova beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-0 on Sunday to continue a dominant and unparalleled run to the Australian Open quarterfinals.The No. 2-ranked Sharapova conceded only five games en route to the quarterfinals, a record at the season’s first major.Steffi Graf conceded only eight games in her opening four matches in 1989, when she won the second of her three straight titles in Melbourne. Monica Seles matched that number twice.Sharapova had a pair of 6-0, 6-0 wins in her

More SportsJan. 20, 2013

Williams says Armstrong let all athletes down

Serena Williams says Lance Armstrong let all athletes down by doping and lying about it for so long, while No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka says the disgraced cyclist ``deserves everything he gets.'' Williams and Azeranka, speaking Saturday after their third-round wins at the Australian Open, said Armstrong's confession after such vehement denials cast doubt over other sports. ``I think a lot of people now look and are like, `OK, if somebody (is) that great, what about everyone else in every other

More SportsJan. 19, 2013

Ulsan defender Kwak to play for Saudi football club

South Korean football defensive back Kwak Tae-hwi, captain of the reigning Asian club champion Ulsan Hyundai Tigers, will join a first-division Saudi Arabian club next season, Ulsan announced Friday.“Kwak Tae-hwi will move to Al-Shabab (in the Saudi Professional League),” Ulsan said in a statement. “Both clubs have agreed not to disclose specifics of the transaction.” Kwak, 31, played the last two seasons for Ulsan in South Korea’s top-division, the K League Classic, after spending the 2010 seas

SoccerJan. 18, 2013

S. Korea rises to 34th place in FIFA rankings

South Korea rose one notch to 34th place in the FIFA rankings for January, the world’s football governing body said Thursday.The rankings, published on FIFA’s website, showed South Korea with a total of 687 points this month, up one point from December.The increase was calculated from an adjustment in the weighted average of the country’s points in the past four years.South Korea was the second-highest ranking Asian nation after Japan, which ranked 21st.Spain, which has topped the list since Sep

SoccerJan. 18, 2013

Ligety enters key phase in overall World Cup ski race

WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) ― Ted Ligety sees the next two weekends of classic World Cup races as key to his challenge for the coveted overall title. With seven point-scoring events over 10 days at the signature Alpine venues of Wengen, Switzerland, and Kitzbuehel, Austria, third-place Ligety aims to move up on leader Marcel Hirscher and Aksel Lund Svindal. “This is a very important month as far as whether I have a chance at the overall,’’ the United States racer told the Associated Press ahead of

More SportsJan. 18, 2013

Celtic slips to rare loss in SPL

Celtic slipped to a rare loss in the Scottish Premier League on Wednesday when the runaway leaders were beaten 2-1 by Motherwell at Fir Park.Michael Higdon's 73rd-minute winner lifted his team into second place in the standings _ but still 19 points adrift of Celtic, which already appears to have the title sewn up.Greece striker Georgios Samaras had equalized for Celtic after in the 63rd minute after Chris Humphrey put Motherwell ahead in the 31st.It was only a fifth loss in 29 matches this camp

More SportsJan. 18, 2013

Napoli’s 2-point penalty rescinded on appeal

ROME (AP) ― Italy’s football federation has rescinded a two-point penalty given to Napoli for match-fixing and lifted bans imposed on captain Paolo Cannavaro and defender Gianluca Grava. Following an appeal, the federation’s internal court decided on Thursday to overturn the punishments handed out by its disciplinary commission. Napoli was penalized in December after its former goalkeeper, Matteo Gianello, confessed to attempting to fix the result of a game between Sampdoria and Napoli in May, 2

SoccerJan. 18, 2013

Armstrong admits doping: 'I'm a flawed character'

Lance Armstrong finally admitted it. He doped.He was light on the details and didn't name names. He mused that he might not have been caught if not for his comeback in 2009. And he was certain his “fate was sealed” when longtime friend, training partner and trusted lieutenant George Hincapie, who was along for the ride on all seven of Armstrong's Tour de France wins from 1999-2005, was forced to give him up to anti-doping authorities.But right from the start and more than two dozen times during

SportsJan. 18, 2013