Sports Briefs

GOLF

Choi Hye-jin moves up to 7th on women’s world ranking

With a victory at the BC Card Hankyung Ladies Cup on Sunday, Choi Hye-jin has moved up three spots on the world ranking to seventh, the Rolex Women’s World Ranking announced on Monday.

Choi finished the tournament on Sunday at 14 under par. It was her second KLPGA win of the season.

Despite mainly playing on the Korean tour, the 18-year-old golfer has been racking up points for the world ranking and is now the fourth highest-ranked Korean golfer after Park In-bee, Ryu So-yeon and Park Sung-hyun.

Choi hopes to maintain her position in order to compete in the UL International Crown in October. The players representing Korea will be determined based on ranking after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the LPGA Tour’s third major tournament of the season, this weekend. Choi is currently one spot above Kim In-kyung, who plays on the LPGA Tour.

BASEBALL

Bears recruit Van Slyke from MLB to replace Paredes

The Doosan Bears have signed a $320,000 one-season contract with Scott Van Slyke to replace Jimmy Paredes, who was released by the Bears earlier this month, the club announced on Tuesday.

Van Slyke started his major-league career with the Los Angeles Dodgers after getting drafted straight out of high school in the 14th round in 2005. In 2012, he was called up to the Dodgers but struggled for most of his time there with injuries.

In January this year, Van Slyke singed a minor-league contract with the Miami Marlins and played in the club’s Triple-A team. In the beginning of May, he was put on a disabled list from an ear surgery, and it wasn’t until June that he returned to the league.

Van Slyke only played in 10 games, with a batting average of .239, seven home runs and 26 RBIs.

Throughout his MLB career, the 31-year-old Missouri native has had a batting average of .242 with 29 home runs and 95 RBIs. With six years of experience under his belt, the Bears expect him to make a significant impact on the team.

The Bears released Paredes on June 1 after continuous struggles at the bat and on the plate. In 21 games, Paredes had a batting average of .138 with one home run and four RBIs.

By Kang Yoo-rim