Kim Kwang-hyun gets raise

South Korean pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun, whose recent contract talks with a Major League Baseball club fell through, received a hefty raise from his current domestic club on Sunday.The SK Wyverns in the Korea Baseball Organization announced that they’ve re-signed their left-hander for 600 million won ($543,000), up from 270 million won he earned in 2014.Lotte Giants sign RaleyThe Lotte Giants announced Sunday they have signed American left-hander Brooks Raley. The team said Raley has agreed to a $45

BaseballDec. 14, 2014

Ping-pong star hopes to see unified Korean squad

SYDNEY (Yonhap) ― Ri Pun-hui, a retired North Korean table tennis star who once competed on a unified team with South Koreans for a world title, said Sunday she hoped to see the two Koreas play on the same team once again.In an interview in Sydney, where she is visiting with Pyongyang’s deaf football team, Ri said the divided countries should try to form unified squads more often.Ri, currently secretary general of the North Korean Sports Association for the Disabled, was a member of the unified

More SportsDec. 14, 2014

Russians dominate short program in Grand Prix Final

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ― Elizaveta Tuktamysheva led a Russian teen sweep of the short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final on Thursday. The 17-year-old Tuktamysheva earned a top score of 67.52 points performing to Ravel’s “Bolero” on the temporary rink inside Barcelona’s International Convention Center. “I knew I was competing against the strongest girls in the world,” said Tuktamysheva. “I was scared the smallest mistake would move me down (the rankings) so I had the motivation to s

More SportsDec. 12, 2014

Day, Tringale take lead in Franklin Templeton Shootout

NAPLES, Florida (AP) ― Jason Day and Cameron Tringale shot a 17-under 55 on Thursday in the first-round scramble to take a two-stroke lead in the Franklin Templeton Shootout. “The abridged version is, I hit first and then let Jason loose,” Tringale said. Day and Tringale tied the tournament scramble record set by tournament host Greg Norman and Nick Price in 1993 and matched by Peter Jacobsen and John Cook in 1998 and Norman and Steve Elkington in 2005. “Scramble is one of those formats where yo

GolfDec. 12, 2014

‘Big 4’ will be hard to topple in Champions League

MANCHESTER, England (AP) ― With nine different winners in the last 11 years, no one could ever accuse the Champions League of being predictable. It does appear, however, that an established “Big 4” has been created in Europe’s premier club competition ― and this year’s group stage backs up the theory. Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, the last four winners of European soccer’s top prize, were the top teams in group play, which finished Wednesday. In each of the last three season

SoccerDec. 12, 2014

Hanwha Eagles sign ex-big league outfielder Nyjer Morgan

South Korean baseball club Hanwha Eagles announced Friday they have signed former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder Nyjer Morgan.The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club inked the 34-year-old player for US$550,000 for 2015, along with a signing bonus of $150,000.Morgan has 598 big league games under his belt and is a career .282 hitter with 120 steals.He spent the 2013 season with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan, batting .294 with 11 home runs and 50 RBIs in 108 games.Morgan returned

BaseballDec. 12, 2014

PyeongChang says 2018 Winter Games will stay home 'as planned'

PyeongChang, the South Korean host of the 2018 Winter Games, announced Friday all events for both the Olympics and Paralympics will be held in the country "as planned," its first formal rejection of the possibility of splitting events with another location in light of recent changes in Olympic hosting procedures.In an English-language statement, Cho Yang-ho, president of the PyeongChang Winter Games organizing committee, said it will be difficult for PyeongChang to seek relocation of events beca

Olympic GamesDec. 12, 2014

S. Korean pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun fails to reach deal with San Diego Padres

South Korean pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun has failed to reach an agreement with the San Diego Padres, Kim's current domestic club announced Friday.The SK Wyverns in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the 26-year-old left-hander will stay at home at least for another season, after he was unable to sign a deal with the Major League Baseball (MLB) club by the deadline.The Wyverns posted Kim in early November and the Padres submitted the highest bid for Kim with US$2 million. The Padres had 30 day

SportsDec. 12, 2014

China’s Feng leads in Dubai despite illness

DUBAI (AFP) ― China’s Feng Shanshan, the highest ranked player in the field at world No. 5, overcame a mystery illness to master the tough afternoon conditions and join Sweden’s Carin Koch on top of the leaderboard at the end of the opening day’s play Wednesday of the 500,000 euros Dubai Ladies Masters.In the season-ending championship of the Ladies European Tour, Feng closed with a 12-footer birdie on the final hole of the Majlis course for a six-under par round of 66, a mark that had been set

GolfDec. 11, 2014

Logistics not sole reason to keep Olympics in PyeongChang

Despite recent changes to the Olympic hosting process that would allow multiple cities to jointly stage events, PyeongChang, the South Korean host of the 2018 Winter Olympics, maintains that it has no plans to share events with cities outside the country.And officials of the local organizing committee say logistical headaches that may accompany co-hosting aren’t the only reason; they argue that the public sentiment has to be taken into consideration, too.Earlier this week, the International Olym

More SportsDec. 11, 2014

PyeongChang says logistics not sole reason to keep

Despite recent changes to the Olympic hosting process that would allow multiple cities to jointly stage events, PyeongChang, the South Korean host of the 2018 Winter Olympics, maintains that it has no plans to share events with cities outside the country.And officials of the local organizing committee say logistical headaches that may accompany co-hosting aren't the only reason; they argue that the public sentiment has to be taken into consideration, too.Earlier this week, the International Olym

Olympic GamesDec. 11, 2014

IOC vote clears way for bidding to take off

MONACO (AP) ― With the IOC’s new bidding process now in place, the race for the 2024 Olympics is primed to take off.The U.S. Olympic Committee will make a decision next week on whether to bid and may even select a city to put forward, making a choice among Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington.“We’re not in it to come in fourth, third or second,” USOC chairman Larry Probst said Tuesday, setting the stage for a contest that could also include Paris, Rome, Berlin or Hamburg and other c

More SportsDec. 10, 2014

Lester, Cubs agree to $155m deal

SAN DIEGO (AP) ― Pitcher Jon Lester agreed Tuesday night to a $155 million, six-year contract with the Chicago Cubs, a person familiar with the negotiations said, the first big deal of the offseason involving a top-level starting pitcher.Lester’s contract contains an option for 2021 that, if it becomes guaranteed, would make the deal worth $170 million over seven seasons. The average annual value of $25.8 million is the second highest for a pitcher behind Clayton Kershaw’s $30.7 million as part

BaseballDec. 10, 2014