Soccer

City signs Jovetic for $126m

Manchester City completed its swoop for Fiorentina forward Stevan Jovetic on Friday as the Premier League club's close-season spending spree reached 83 million pounds ($126 million). Jovetic's move to Eastlands was revealed on Thursday when Fiorentina announced it had agreed to a deal and 24 hours later City confirmed the Montenegro international's arrival. "Manchester City are delighted to announce the signing of Stevan Jovetic from Fiorentina," a statement on the club's website confirmed.

Liverpool loans Reina to Napoli

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina is to be loaned out to Serie A side Napoli next season where he'll be reunited with former Reds coach Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool Echo reported on Friday. The 30-year-old Spaniard has spent eight years at Anfield but the arrival of Simon Mignolet from Sunderland has meant he has lost his first-choice status. Reina arrived at Anfield from Villarreal in 2005 and helped Liverpool clinch the UEFA Super Cup and the FA Cup in his first season.

Ice hockey

Green light to compete in Sochi

The National Hockey League and International Ice Hockey Federation reached an agreement to free players for the 2014 Sochi Olympics on Friday after nearly four years of intense and sometimes bitter negotiations. After the 2010 Vancouver Games unhappy NHL owners signaled through commissioner Gary Bettman that they were prepared to end their Olympic participation, triggering years of talks followed by months of grinding negotiations before finally producing the long-awaited deal.

2013-14 schedule has new alignment

Six outdoor games and a new conference and division alignment highlight the 2013-14 regular season schedule released by the National Hockey League on Friday. The 1,230-game season, 82 games per team, opens on Oct 1 with the Stanley Cup playoffs beginning on April 16, the league said in a statement. The Chicago Blackhawks will raise their Stanley Cup championship banner to the United Center rafters before hosting the Washington Capitals on opening night.

Baseball

Jeter put on 15-day disabled list

New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quad muscle, the Major League Baseball team said on Friday. Jeter suffered the injury on July 11, in what was his first game of the season, trying to run out a ground ball against the Kansas City Royals. His move to the disabled list is retroactive to July 12. Jeter's spot in the lineup will be taken by infielder Brent Lillibridge, who was promoted from the Yankees' Triple-A farm club Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Cricket

Swann embarrassed by 'awful' wicket

England's Graeme Swann made no attempt to hide his shame at the wicket that sent him on his way to a place on the Lord's honor board during the second Ashes Test against Australia on Friday. Offspinner Swann led England's attack with five wickets for 44 runs in 21.3 overs as Australia collapsed to 128 all out in reply to the Ashes holder's first innings 361, a deficit of 233 runs. In the process the 34-year-old Nottinghamshire bowler became the first England spinner to take five wickets in an innings of an Ashes Test at Lord's in 79 years.

Basketball

Cavs say they've gotten Bynum

The Cleveland Cavaliers announced on Friday that they signed center Andrew Bynum to a contract. The Cavaliers did not release the terms of the deal, but multiple media reports indicated the deal is for two years and worth $24 million. Bynum, 25, did not play a single game for the Philadelphia 76ers last season because of problems with his knees that required surgery. Bynum's best season was 2011-12 with the LA Lakers, when he averaged 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds.

Rockets re-sign Brooks for a year

The Houston Rockets re-signed guard Aaron Brooks to a one-year deal and signed unrestricted free agent guard Reggie Williams to a multi-year contract, the team announced. Brooks played in just seven games for Houston last season, averaging 1.4 points and 0.9 assists. Williams averaged 3.7 points for Charlotte last season.

Mountaineering

China-Pakistan joint expedition

A China-Pakistan alpine rescue and expedition team will climb 7,546-meter high Muztagata, the second highest of the mountains which form the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, on Wednesday - if weather permits. The team will comprise five Chinese and three Pakistanis. The final climb was originally planned for Sunday, but was postponed due to bad weather. It is the second China-Pakistan joint expedition and follows last year's successful scaling of the 7,027-meter high Spantik in Pakistan.

Athletics

Slow Semenya set to miss worlds

Former world 800m champion Caster Semenya is likely to miss next month's world championships in Moscow after being left off South Africa's provisional list of 30 athletes released on Friday. Semenya, who won the world title in 2009 and grabbed the silver medal at the London Olympics, clocked a slow time in her first competitive race in more than a year on Wednesday. Semenya would need to run 2:00.00 or quicker by July 29 to qualify for the championships, but her agent, Jukka Harkonen, said she had no more races lined up before the deadline.

Agencies

(China Daily 07/21/2013 page7)