OLYMPICS
Yao Returns In Warmup For China
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Yao Ming is back, transforming China's basketball team and providing a big relief for Olympic organizers.
The Houston Rockets' center marked his return from injury yesterday with 11 points in just more than 12 minutes of play for the Chinese national team in a warmup against a Serbian squad.
Entering six minutes into the first quarter to huge applause from the crowd in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, Yao appeared a little rusty, but made a solid contribution to China's 96-72 victory in the four-team Stankovic Cup tournament.
The game was Yao's first since a stress fracture in his left foot ended his NBA season in February. The injury has caused major concern among Olympic organizers expecting him to become the face of the Games. Yao is considered a leading candidate to carry the Olympic torch on its final leg into Beijing's new National Stadium.
Yao left the court after the game without speaking to reporters.
· TRACK AND FIELD: A British judge will announce today whether sprinter Dwain Chambers can represent Britain in Beijing. Chambers, who served a two-year doping ban from 2003 to 2005, is seeking a temporary injunction against the British Olympic Association, which bans doping violators for life.
· VOLLEYBALL: Middle blocker Danielle Scott-Aruda, 35, has been named to her fourth U.S. Olympic team.
· BASEBALL: Pitcher Yu Darvish, 21, was one of the 24 players selected for the Japanese team. Darvish, a 6-foot-5 right-hander whose father is Iranian and mother is Japanese, has a 10-3 record with a 1.93 ERA for the Nippon Ham Fighters. He held both Iranian and Japanese citizenship but dropped his Iranian nationality so he could represent Japan.
· GYMNASTICS: Gold medalist Paul Hamm, given a spot on the U.S. men's team despite a broken hand, will take part in an intrasquad meet tomorrow to show the selection committee he's physically able to compete at the Beijing Games.
· SOCCER: China dropped Ratomir Dujkovic as its men's coach just three weeks before the start of the Games and replaced him with Yin Tiesheng.
-- From News Services
