I Dig Sports
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thunder All-Star Paul George had a procedure to repair a small labrum tear in his left shoulder.
A Thunder spokesman made the announcement on Tuesday.
George had surgery to repair a partially torn tendon in his right shoulder about a month ago. It was announced at that time that he would have the additional procedure at a later date. Both shoulders hampered him in the final two months of the season. His timetable for recovery remains the same, and his status will be evaluated before the start of the upcoming season.
George is a finalist for the NBA's Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards. He ranked second in the league with 28 points per game and led the league with 2.21 steals per contest.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The NBA said the Toronto Raptors' Marc Gasol should have been given two free throws with 49 seconds left of Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Toronto, a game that the Raptors lost to the Golden State Warriors by one point on Monday.
Gasol was fouled by the Warriors' DeMarcus Cousins on a drive, the NBA said in its Last Two Minute Report that was issued Tuesday. Gasol missed the shot and tumbled to the floor, but no foul was called.
Golden State led 106-103 at the time. The Warriors wound up prevailing 106-105, staving off elimination and sending the series back to Oracle Arena for Game 6 on Thursday night.
The NBA said Cousins moved into Gasol, "initiating contact that affects his driving shot attempt."
Fan struck by foul ball in Chicago out of hospital
CHICAGO -- The woman struck by a foul ball during Monday night's game at Guaranteed Rate Field was treated at a nearby hospital and released Tuesday morning, according to a Chicago White Sox spokesman.
The unidentified woman was sitting in the stands just past the White Sox dugout down the third base line and was struck by a hard liner in the fourth inning off the bat of Chicago's Eloy Jimenez. She was bleeding around the head area, and was covered with a towel. She walked up toward the concourse with assistance of stadium personnel.
She then was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.
"She came back here with her friend and picked up her car this morning," said Scott Reifert, the White Sox's senior vice president of communications.
"We've left a couple of messages for her -- we always reach out -- and we haven't heard back."
Reifert said he had no information about the nature of the treatment and it will be up to the woman whether or not her name is made public.
The incident was just the latest scary moment to raise the issue of fan safety. Last month, a liner off the bat of the Cubs' Albert Almora Jr. struck a young girl in the stands at Houston's Minute Maid Park.
Almora reacted emotionally and had to be consoled by teammates and stadium personnel after breaking down on the field. Jimenez reacted Monday night by putting his hands on his helmet after the fan was struck.
The protective netting at Guaranteed Rate Field extends to the end of the dugout, which is the level of protection mandated by major league baseball. There has been some talk that it should be extended farther down the line.
"I think as an industry, probably all of baseball is gonna continue to take a look at it," Reifert said. "We really do every year.
"Obviously, the security and safety of our fans is important. I think we made the steps we did around baseball to address that."
Reifert said the White Sox are willing to work with fans who are concerned about safety.
"There are a lot of seats behind netting, so for people coming with young kids or if it's an important concern of theirs, they should absolutely ask at the ticket windows and we will accommodate them as best we can with seats that they know are gonna be protected," he said.
Atlanta Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson was given a one-game suspension following a skirmish with Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Joe Musgrove and catcher Elias Diaz on Monday.
Donaldson appealed the ruling and was in the lineup Tuesday night against the Pirates, hitting a solo home run in the second inning.
With two outs in the first inning of the game in Atlanta, Musgrove grazed Donaldson's jersey with a pitch. As Donaldson headed to first base, he exchanged words with Musgrove and then took a few steps toward the mound before Diaz intervened. Donaldson shoved Diaz. That prompted players from both dugouts and bullpens to spill onto the field. No punches were thrown and the field was quickly cleared.
Donaldson and Musgrove were both ejected, and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was ejected by plate umpire Brian Gorman for arguing the decision to toss Musgrove.
Braves recall Minter, put him back in closer's mix
ATLANTA -- A.J. Minter is back with the Atlanta Braves after a five-week stay at Triple-A Gwinnett, getting a chance to reclaim the job he lost as closer.
Atlanta recalled Minter on Tuesday to add another arm to its uncertain bullpen and placed starter Kevin Gausman on the injured list with plantar fasciitis.
Manager Brian Snitker said Minter improved his changeup and fastball command and added versatility by pitching multiple innings a couple of times in the minors. Luke Jackson remains the closer despite five blown saves in 14 chances.
Snitker said he planned to use Minter in a late-inning role. Minter went 0-4 with a 9.82 ERA and three saves in four opportunities, a span of 15 games, before he was sent down.
"He needed to back off the throttle a little bit, I think, at the time we sent him out," Snitker said. "We knew it was going to be good for him."
In nine games with Gwinnett, Minter was 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA. Minter missed most of spring training with left shoulder inflammation and returned from the injured list on April 4.
"He's a young player who doesn't have a whole lot to fall back on," Snitker said. "I think spring training was important for him, and he missed it. He just never really got caught up -- the arm strength, the whole thing. He throws hard, but he is a feel guy with his mechanics and all that. I think it was good. Hopefully. We'll see."
The Braves opened the season planning to use Minter as a left-handed closing option and Arodys Vizcaino from the right side. Vizcaino's season ended in April because of right shoulder inflammation, and he was traded to Seattle the following month.
The Braves' bullpen has a 4.26 ERA with 118 walks allowed in 243 innings.
Gausman began spring training as the team's No. 2 starter, but he went 2-5 with a 6.21 ERA in 13 starts.
Snitker said he didn't know yet who will take Gausman's spot in the rotation.
Both managers were tossed from the Texas Rangers-Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park Tuesday night.
Red Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi was initially thrown out after grounding out in the fifth inning. After he was thrown out at first, Benintendi appeared to have directed a comment to home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Benintendi was then ejected by first base umpire Vic Carapazza
Benintendi's manager, Alex Cora, came out to argue the ejection and was also tossed by Carapazza.
After he was ejected, Benintendi continued to deliver invective to the umpires from the dugout.
The ejections were the first two of the season for the Red Sox, who trailed the Rangers at the time.
A half-inning later, Rangers manager Chris Woodward stormed from the dugout after an overturned call at second base. Asdrubal Cabrera was initially called safe trying to stretch a single into a double, but second base umpire Jordan Baker changed his ruling.
Woodward went straight for Hernandez, who let him rant for a bit before issuing the ejection.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Vincent Picard heads Agadir seeding; Taiwo Mati presents major African challenge
A third round exit in Italy when beaten by China’s Zeng Beixun but otherwise this year, Vincent Picard has always reached the latter stages. Most notably he won in Poland; he was a semi-finalist in both Bahrain and on home soil in France, a quarter-finalist in the Czech Republic.
He is listed ahead of Slovakia’s Filip Delincak and Adam Klajber, both are players who have yet to make their mark on the international scene; Algeria’s Abdelbasset Chaichi, bronze medallist last year on home soil at the African Youth Games, completes the top four names.
Impressive in Algiers but the name to note in the African challenge for honours is that of Nigeria’s Taiwo Mati; in the junior boys’ singles event he is the no.7 seed, behind Azzeddine Lazazi, like Abdelbasset Chaichi from Algeria. However, most significantly he is the top seed in the cadet boys’ singles competition.
Earlier this year in April, he excelled at the Ghana Junior and Cadet Open as well as at the African Youth, Junior and Cadet Championships. In both tournaments he won the cadet boys’ singles title.
He is listed ahead of Slovakia’s Jakub Goldir and Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Alshareif, both players who this year have advanced to ITTF World Junior Circuit cadet boys’ singles semi-finals; Jakub Goldir in Bahrain, Khalid Alshareif in Ghana. The Czech Republic’s Matya Lebeda completes the top four names, his most noteworthy performance being a quarter-final finish last year in Estonia.
Play commences with the team events, the individual events commence on Friday 14th June.
France, India and Japan challengers but focus on hosts
Lilian Bardet and Dorian Zheng occupy the top seeded spot in the junior boys’ team event ahead of India’s Manush Utpalbhai Shah and Raegan Alberquerque; in the junior boys’ singles competition Manush Utpalbhai Shah is the top seed, followed by Lilian Bardet and Dorian Zheng, Raegan Alberquerque is the no.7 seed.
All are players who have enjoyed notable success on the ITTF World Junior Circuit; last year Manush Utpalbhai Shah was the junior boys’ singles runner up in Jordan, Raegan Alburquerque in Egypt. Notably, this year in Bahrain, Lilian Bardet was the runner up, Dorian Zheng a semi-finalist.
However, the names that attract the attention are those of the host nation’s Zeng Beixun, Quan Kaiyuan and Gao Yang. They form the third seeded combination in the junior boys’ team event ahead of the Japanese formation comprising Hayata Suzuki, Ryoichi Yoshiyama and Takeru Kashiwa.
Impressively, three months ago in March in Italy, Zeng Beixun was the junior boys’ singles runner up, Gao Yang a quarter-finalist; more significantly, one month later Quan Kaiyuan won in Belgium. In the junior boys’ singles competition Zeng Beixun is the no.4 seed ahead of Takeru Kashiwa and colleague Horoto Shinozuka; Quan Kaiyuan is the no.8 seed, Gao Yang is much further down the order. He is the no.21 seed. Notably last year Takeru Kashiwa was a semi-finalist in Hungary; Hiroto Shinozuka, a quarter-finalist in Hong Kong.
Eyes focused on the host nation in the junior boys’ team and junior boys’ singles events, it is very much the same in the cadet boys’ team and cadet boys’ singles competitions.
Currently listed in top spot on the cadet boys’ world rankings, Chen Yuanyu joins forces with Chen Yaxuan and Shen Feng in the cadet boys’ team event, a competition in which the trio occupies the second seeded position behind Hong Kong’s Yiu Kwan To and Yu Nok.
Meanwhile, in the cadet boys’ singles Chen Yuanyu heads the list being followed by Iran’s Navid Shams, Hong Kong’s Yiu Kwan To and India’s Payas Jain.
Play commences with the team events; the team events begin on Friday 14th June.
A special tournament for two names on first day duty
Notable names stand out, two in particular; the names of Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan and China’s Sun Yingsha.
Chuang Chih-Yuan is one of two players who has finished in runners up spot in the men’s singles event at an ITTF World Tour tournament in Japan, the other is the host nation’s Maharu Yoshimura.
Four years ago in Kobe Maharu Yoshimura was beaten in the final by China’s Xu Xin, in 2004 Chuang Chih-Yuan suffered at the hands of Chen Qi, also from China; but it is the result of 2002 that had a major bearing on the career of Chuang Chih-Yuan. He was beaten in the final by Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece, it was a defeat from which he learned, at the end of year Grand Finals in Stockholm he secured the men’s singles title, the player he beat in the final, a certain Kalinikos Kreanga.
At the time the success was quite an upset, Kalinikos Kreanga at nine years the senior being the player with the experience, now 17 years later, 38 years of age, very much Chuang Chih-Yuan is the player with the experience.
Meanwhile, for Sun Yingsha, the 2017 ITTF World Tour Japan Open represented a milestone; it is to this date her one and only such women’s singles success on the ITTF World Tour. She beat colleague Chen Meng to seal the title before the following week reaching the final on home soil in China where Ding Ning halted progress.
For Chuang Chih-Yuan and Sun Yingsha the ITTF World Tour Japan Open has been special; for whom could it be special this year?
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