Digest

Figure Skating

Olympic duo in Hall of Fame class

Chinese Olympic pairs champions Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo headline the latest class to be elected to the Figure Skating Hall of Fame on Monday, along with Olympic champions Alexei Yagudin and Trixi Schuba and longtime coach Alexei Mishin.

Shen and Zhao won China's first Winter Olympic pairs gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games after finishing third at both the 2002 and 2006 Games, in Salt Lake City and Turin.

They also won the world championship three times and finished second three times.

Yagudin won four world championships and gold for Russia at the 2002 Winter Games before his career, and his long rivalry with countryman Evgeni Plushenko, was cut short by a congenital hip disorder.

Asada quits, lost 'will to compete'

Japanese figure skater Mao Asada, a silver medalist at the 2010 Winter Olympics and three-time world champion, is retiring from the sport after a disappointing season, saying she has lost the will to compete.

The 26-year-old took a year off from competition before resuming training in 2015, but said on her blog on Monday that this time she "is quitting for good".

Plagued by knee pain this season, Asada finished 12th at the national championships in December, the lowest finish of her career. She had previously won the event six times.

Ice Hockey

Robitaille, Blake take over Kings

The Los Angeles Kings fired GM Dean Lombardi and coach Darryl Sutter on Monday.

Luc Robitaille was named team president and will oversee all hockey and business operations. Rob Blake, who was Lombardi's assistant, was named vice-president and general manager.

Under Sutter and Lombardi, the Kings won their first Stanley Cup championship in 2012, and won again in 2014. Since then, they have missed the playoffs two of the past three seasons and lost to the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference First Round in five games last season.

NFL

Bragging rights on the line in LA

The newly relocated Los Angeles Chargers will play the Los Angeles Rams at the city's Memorial Coliseum on Aug 26 in one of the highlights of the 65-game NFL preseason schedule released on Monday.

The Dallas Cowboys will open the exhibition season when they face the Arizona Cardinals in the annual Hall of Fame Game on Aug 3. The Cowboys play the Rams in Los Angeles the following week.

The Super Bowl champion New England Patriots open the preseason by hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars while the runner-up Atlanta Falcons visit the Miami Dolphins.

Up in arms over casino promotion

A group of NFL players who participated in an arm-wrestling event at a casino in Las Vegas last weekend will be disciplined by the league.

NFL Media's Ian Rapoport reported on Monday the group will be fined for violating the league's policy barring players from appearing at casinos as part of promotional events. The players did not get pre-approval from the NFL.

The NFL began its investigation after learning of the inaugural Pro Football Arm Wrestling Championship at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, which featured more than 30 current and former players.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 04/12/2017 page22)