NBA plans major complex in China

BEIJING — The NBA and a Chinese partner say they plan to open a basketball center near Beijing.

The partners say the facility in Tianjin, a port city east of the Chinese capital, will include NBA-style basketball courts, a fitness center, a restaurant and other features, according to NBA China and the Yatai Lanhai Investment Group.

The announcement was made as the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers played NBA exhibition games in Beijing and Shanghai.

The 12,000-square-meter NBA Center is to become part of a mixed-use development by Yatai Lanhai with housing for 150,000. The New York Times reported the entire complex will cost $1.5 billion.

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All Blacks captain plans to take rest

WELLINGTON — All Blacks captain Richie McCaw is to take an extended break from rugby, sitting out next year's Super 15 championship and the June tests against France, Canterbury Crusaders officials confirmed Sunday.

The talismanic open-side flanker and three-time IRB player of the year is to enact the six-month sabbatical clause in his contract in the hope it will help extend his playing days through to the next World Cup in 2015.

"It is definitely going to happen," Todd Blackadder, the coach of McCaw's Crusaders Super 15 side, told the Sunday Star-Times.

"Richie is going to take a sabbatical. He will probably be available after June. He won't be available for the tests or Super Rugby, so he's going to get a good break."

The 31-year-old McCaw will play in the All Blacks' remaining Rugby Championship matches against Argentina and South Africa over the next two weeks and the end-of-year tour to Europe before taking to the sidelines.

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Nishikori still plans to play in China

Kei Nishikori has signaled his intention to play in the Shanghai Masters next month despite simmering political tensions between Japan and China triggered by a dispute over the Senkaku Islands.

"No, it should be fine," Nishikori was quoted by Reuters as saying when asked if he had any qualms about heading to Shanghai.

"I don't want to get too much into it as my job is playing tennis and doing my best on the court. Anything can happen, but hopefully not," added the 22-year-old tennis player, who reached the last eight of the Australian Open this year.

On Wednesday, London Olympic silver medalist Kasumi Ishikawa withdrew from the table tennis Women's World Cup to be held in Huangshi, China, after organizers were unable to guarantee her safety amid pervasive anti-Japanese sentiment in the country.

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Pep to speak out on plans

Decision looms: Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola is expected to make an announcement on Friday about whether he will remain with the club. AFP-JIJI

MADRID — Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is likely to announce on Friday whether he is staying or leaving the Spanish champions, a source close to the team said Thursday.

"Everything points to the coach possibly making a statement on his future on Friday," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The fact that Guardiola has yet to sign a new Nou Camp contract has led to intense speculation on his future with rumours rife that he will quit on Friday.

Guardiola, 41-year-old architect of one of Barcelona's most successful soccer eras, said Tuesday that he would be speaking to Barca president Sandro Rosell in the coming days to decide his future.

The Barca coach revealed he would be holding the pivotal meeting at a news conference after Barcelona was knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea.

Barcelona's Champions League exit and its loss to Real Madrid on Saturday — which led Guardiola to concede the league title will go to Madrid — has led some to speculate about a mini-slump.

But Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said Monday he was convinced that Guardiola will continue at the helm.

"I think he's going to keep going — he loves this club, he loves his profession," he said. "I think there is no bigger passion for him than football and FC Barcelona. So really I bet he will be with us next year."

Spain's press was filled with rumous Thursday about Guardiola's possible departure but none of the reports quoted named sources and the club declined to comment.

In April of last year Guardiola told Italian television Rai Sports that he felt his time as Barcelona coach was coming to a close.

"I feel good here but I believe my time at Barcelona is ending," the coach said.

"I've already done three years, one more will be four years. And in four years a big club needs a lot of courage to keep the same coach. Everyone should know when it's the right time to go, as I always heard when I was a player."

The coach extended his contract with Barcelona by a season in February 2011 and his new deal expires in June this year.

Guardiola, who spent most of his playing career at Barcelona, coached Barcelona's B team before taking control of the first-team squad in June 2008.

LONDON — The English Premier League has been forced to scrap team handshakes before Sunday's match between Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers due to John Terry's pending racism trial.

The Chelsea captain is accused of racially insulting QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, who is black, during their Premier League game in October. Terry faces a criminal trial in July from the incident that led to him being stripped of the England captaincy ahead of the European Championship.

Ferdinand was spared having to decide whether to shake Terry's hand before an F.A. Cup match in January after the Football Association allowed the sides to forgo the ritual.

The EPL wanted to retain the pre-match handshakes on Sunday and stressed that in "all normal circumstances it must be observed."

But legal advice led to the greetings being scrapped for the match at Stamford Bridge.

"After discussions with both Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers about the potential and specific legal context in relation to John Terry and Anton Ferdinand the decision has been taken to suspend the handshake convention for Sunday's match," the league said in a statement.

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Drogba plans to stay with Chelsea

LONDON — Didier Drogba intends to stay at Chelsea at least until the end of the season, rejecting speculation of a money-spinning move to ambitious Chinese team Shanghai Shenhua in the January transfer window.

Sections of the British media are reporting that the Chinese team is ready to buy the 33-year-old Drogba this month and pay him a stunning ?270,000 ($420,000) a week, making him one of the highest-earning players in world football.

In an interview with France Football magazine, Drogba, who is on duty with Cote d'Ivoire at the African Nations Cup, said he wants to "start having more fun again, more sensations, more enthusiasm, pressure and passion out on the pitch."

When asked if that meant leaving Chelsea, Drogba said: "Not before June, in any case."

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Darvish plans move to MLB

Yu Darvish ended months of speculation Thursday by saying he intends to make a move to Major League Baseball.

The 25-year-old right-hander, considered the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball, wrote on his blog that he had decided to use the posting system, which allows MLB teams to bid for the negotiating rights to Japanese players who have yet to become free agents.

"I have decided to use the posting system," he said. "I wanted to tell my fans directly, so that is why I am posting this on my blog."

Darvish, the son of an Iranian father and a Japanese mother, went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA this season for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. He had 276 strikeouts to lead the Pacific League.

The Fighters had given him approval to negotiate with a major league club through the posting system. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Ichiro Suzuki went to the major leagues under the system.

"I owe a lot of thanks to my team," Darvish said, adding he would provide more details at a yet-to-be-scheduled news conference.

Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was a member of the Japanese national team that won the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

The 196-cm Darvish has superb control and throws seven effective pitches, including a two-seam fastball introduced during the 2010 season. It's expected he would make a top-of-the-rotation major league starter.

Darvish turned pro in 2005 at the age of 18. His pro career got off to a rocky start when he was caught smoking in a pachinko parlor on an off day during his first spring training, despite not being old enough to legally smoke nor to gamble at the time.

After going 5-5 with a 3.53 ERA in his rookie season with the Fighters, Darvish had a breakout year in 2006, going 12-5 with a 2.89 ERA and 115 strikeouts.

In 2007, Darvish won the Eiji Sawamura Award presented to the top pitcher in Japanese professional baseball after posting a 15-5 record with a 1.82 ERA and a league-leading 210 strikeouts.

Darvish has a 93-38 career record with a 1.99 ERA in 167 games. The two-time Pacific League MVP kept his ERA below 2.00 the past five seasons.

Once posted by the Fighters, MLB clubs can submit sealed bids for the right to negotiate with Darvish. If the Fighters accept the highest bid, the MLB club that placed that bid will then have 30 days to finalize a contract with the player. If no deal is reached, Darvish returns to the Fighters for another season and the Fighters must return the posting fee to the MLB club.

In 2006, former Seibu Lions pitcher Matsuzaka drew a $51.1 million posting fee from the Boston Red Sox, which then signed him to a six-year, $52 million contract, taking the total package to more than $100 million.

Darvish's departure will be a massive blow to Nippon Ham, but the Fighters have decided to let him go as he has done so much for the club.

"Now Darvish is the No. 1 pitcher in Japan, but we want him to become the ace of the world," Nippon Ham team representative Toshimasa Shimada said.

New manager Hideki Kuriyama has to think about a team without Darvish.

"There is no better pitcher in Japan than Darvish, so it's going to be very, very hard for us," Kuriyama said. "I'll just try to build a team that can still compete for a title next year."

DALLAS AP, — Wanting to add a backup infielder following injuries to Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez last season, the New York Yankees won negotiating rights to shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima of the Seibu Lions.

"I'm thankful that the club with great traditions made a bid for me," Nakajima said. "I look forward to seeing how the Yankees evaluate my ability."

Major League Baseball announced Wednesday the Yankees had the highest bid in the posting process. New York has 30 days to reach an agreement with Nakajima and will pay the posting fee only if an agreement is reached. The posting fee for the 29-year-old is $2.5 million.

"This is about acquiring talented players to put them on our club," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He'll be asked to do a number of things."

New York said it would have room for both Nakajima and Eduardo Nunez as reserve infielders.

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Wrestler Yamamoto plans comeback

Former women's world champion Miyu Yamamoto is coming out of retirement for her third time to try to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, her management firm announced Tuesday.

The 36-year-old wrestler is scheduled to hold a news conference on Wednesday.

Yamamoto won her third world title in 1995, when she quit for the first time. She came back three years later only to walk away again, and returned to the mat to try to make the 2004 Olympic team.

Yamamoto comes from a family of wrestlers. Her father, Ikuei, competed at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and her younger brother, Norifumi, who goes by the name "Kid," is one of Japan's most popular mixed martial artists.

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Olympian Ishii plans judo comeback

Satoshi Ishii, the gold medalist in the men's over-100 kg class at the Beijing Olympics, is planning a return to judo from mixed martial arts, but in the United States, Kyodo News learned on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old Ishii turned to MMA in December 2008 after winning the gold that summer in Beijing and finding national fame. He is currently based in Los Angeles.

Ishii has registered and been cleared to compete in the over-100 kg and the 100 kg categories at the April 29-30 national championships in Orlando, Fla.

It will be his first judo bout since the Beijing Olympic final.

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