Digest

TABLE TENNIS

Liu among nominees for ITTF vice-presidents

China's Liu Guoliang was on Monday named among the nominations for the International Table Tennis Federation's executive committee election.

Liu, a legendary former player and coach and now the president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, is one of 17 nominees in the running for eight vice-president positions on the committee, which will be elected at the ITTF's annual general meeting on Nov 24 in Houston, Texas.

The nominations were announced following a vetting process by the ITTF nominations committee.

Liu became CTTA president in late 2018 and was named World Table Tennis (WTT) council chair in June 2020.

Petra Sorling of Sweden is the only candidate to succeed German Thomas Weikert as ITTF president. All nine new members will serve four-year terms on the committee, where they will be joined by ITTF athletes' commission chair Zoran Primorac of Croatia and International Olympic Committee member Ryu Seung-min of South Korea.

SOCCER

Legend Pele recovering after tumor operation

Brazilian great Pele has undergone surgery for a suspected colon tumor and is recovering, the hospital in Sao Paolo that is treating him announced on Monday.

"The tumor was identified during routine cardiovascular and laboratory examinations and the material was sent for pathological analysis," said the Albert Einstein Hospital where Pele has been treated since Aug 31.

"I thank God for feeling very well," the 80-year-old wrote on his Instagram page on Monday.

"Fortunately, I'm used to celebrating great victories alongside you. I will face this match with a smile on my face, a lot of optimism and joy for living surrounded by the love of my family and friends."

Pele was due to leave intensive care on Tuesday, the hospital said in a statement.

Pele has been in poor health in recent years, and has had various spells in hospital, most recently in April 2019, in Paris, because of a severe urinary tract infection.

The only player in history to win three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970), Pele is considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time.

Second man charged in Mendy rape case

Police investigating sexual assault allegations against Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy have charged a second man with rape, British police said Monday.

Mendy, a 27-year-old Frenchman, is being held in custody and faces a potential trial on rape and sexual assault charges.

Cheshire Police said a 40-year-old man, Louis Saha Matturie, from Eccles, Greater Manchester, has been charged with four counts of rape. Police said the charges against Matturie related to alleged attacks against three complainants from April to August this year.

Mendy has been charged with attacks on three different women, including one under 18, at his home in Prestbury, Cheshire, between October 2020 and August this year.

Mendy has played 75 times for City over the past four years, winning three Premier League titles, but has seen his playing time limited by injuries and a loss of form. The last of his 10 caps for France came in November 2019.

MODERN PENTATHLON

Coach who struck horse sent for training

A German modern pentathlon coach who struck a horse at the Olympics was ordered Monday to undergo training in animal welfare before she can work again at major competitions.

TV footage from the Olympics last month showed Kim Raisner leaning over a fence to strike Saint Boy, which refused to jump fences in the show jumping round.

Raisner was coaching German athlete Annika Schleu, who lost her chance of a gold medal when the horse, which was assigned to her at random, refused to cooperate.

Raisner was suspended from the rest of the Olympics before her case was heard by a disciplinary panel. The International Modern Pentathlon Union said the panel gave her an official reprimand and said she had to undergo the training "at the earliest opportunity and prior to her participation in any UIPM-sanctioned competition".

"Striking the horse, Saint Boy, and encouraging her athlete to do the same, regardless of the reason, was shocking to this panel and indeed the world," the UIPM panel said. If she breaks animal welfare rules again, Raisner could lose her coaching credentials.

BASEBALL

Meadows' homer helps Rays rally for wild win

Austin Meadows hit a tying, inside-the-park homer in the ninth inning, Nelson Cruz had a go-ahead single in the 10th and the Tampa Bay Rays rallied from a six-run deficit to beat the Boston Red Sox 11-10 on Monday.

The American League East-leading Rays took advantage of four errors, the biggest when center fielder Alex Verdugo appeared to lose Cruz's high fly in the sun with bases loaded and two outs in the fourth.

The ball glanced off Verdugo's glove and Cruz wound up circling the bases on the play, scoring on second baseman Taylor Motter's wild throw that let Tampa Bay close to 7-5 against ace Chris Sale.

Cruz also homered and had a pair of RBI singles as the Rays increased their AL East lead to 8 1/2 games over New York. The Red Sox missed a chance to move ahead of the Yankees for the top AL wild-card spot.

Wander Franco had four hits for the Rays. Collin McHugh (6-1) got the win.

Hunter Renfroe had three hits and two RBIs for Boston. Garrett Whitlock (7-3) got the loss.

Xinhua - Agencies