LOS ANGELES (AFP) – LeBron James has added ownership stakes in baseball’s Boston Red Sox and a US stock car race team to England football champions Liverpool in his sports empire, according to multiple reports Tuesday.
The superstar playmaker for the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers and business partner Maverick Carter have become partners in the Fenway Sports Group, according to the Boston Globe, USA Today, ESPN and other US reports.
James, 36, already had a 2% stake in Liverpool but now likely has a firmer share in the Premier League team as well as a stake in Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, a sports management firm, a regional sports cable network and Roush Fenway Racing of NASCAR, the closed-cockpit series that is the most popular form of US auto racing.
Wesley So whips Iranian-born rival
Grandmaster Wesley So overpowered rising star Alireza Firouzja, 2.5-0.5, to seize the first of their two-set quarterfinal showdown in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Magnus Invitational Wednesday.
The 27-year-old So needed just three of their four-game first-set duel to bring down the 17-year-old Iranian-born player representing FIDE, after winning the first two in smashing fashion and drawing the third.
The World Fischer-Random king and two-time United States titlist would just need to draw the final four-game set to advance to the semifinals of this leg offering a total cash pot of $220,000.
Meantime, orld classical champion Magnus Carlsen had a surprisingly easy time dispatching Levon Aronian, 2.5-0.5, in the other quarterfinals matchup.
While Carlsen and So went trouble-free, other quarters matches pitting Dutch Anish Giri against French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi versus American Hikaru Nakamura ended up in 2-2 standoffs.
The winner of the Giri-Lagrave pairing will play either So or Firouzja while the victor in the Nepomniachtchi-Nakamura battle clashes with either Carlsen or Aronian. (Kristel Satumbaga)
PVL: Kalie Mau returning for Cargo Movers
Fil-American player Kalei Mau is expected to rejoin the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers when they debut in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference in May.
The 26-year-old outside hitter announced this on her social media Wednesday to the delight of volleyball fans.
“Hi to all my Philippines volleyball fans! Many of you are wondering if I will return to PH to play in the upcoming conference with @F2CargoMovers in the @PVLph. The answer is YES!” the Twitter post read, garnering more than 4,000 likes and more than 400 retweets at press time.
“I’m preparing for my return at the end of this month. Enjoying my last weeks in my beautiful Hawaii.” (Kristel Satumbaga)
Tiger makes a digital comeback
NEW YORK (AFP) – Tiger Woods, a 15-time major champion recovering from injuries suffered last month in a car crash, is making a comeback in golfing videogames, announcing a new deal Tuesday with 2K.
The company and Woods have agreed upon a long-term exclusive partnership and 2K announced it has struck a deal to obtain HB Studios, developers of the PGA Tour 2K21 as well as The Golf Club franchise.
Woods has won 82 PGA Tour titles, level with Sam Snead for the all-time record, and had partnered with EA Sports on one of the most successful golf videogames ever created for 15 years before the deal ended in 2013.
Woods suffered career-threatening leg injuries in an accident last month in California.
”I am looking forward to making my return to the video game landscape, and with 2K and HB Studios, I’ve found the right partners to make it happen,” Woods said in a statement.
