er top-ranked star Ana Ivanovic and 13th-seeded two-time 2014
BEIJING -- Former basketball star Dennis Rodman apologized on Monday for not being able to help an American missionary detained in North Korea while he played there to celebrate the birthday of his friend and leader Kim Jong Un. David Nwaba Nets Jersey . "Im sorry, Im sorry I couldnt do anything," Rodman told media on his arrival at Beijing airport from a weeklong trip. "Its not my fault. Im sorry. I just want to do some good stuff, thats all I want to do." He said he would return to North Korea next month, but gave no details. Rodman and the squad of retired NBA players he took to North Korea for an exhibition game marking Kims birthday have met with criticism in the U.S. because of North Koreas human rights record and its development of nuclear weapons. Acknowledging the controversy surrounding the trip, one of the players, Charles D. Smith, said Rodman "opened the door and he did some missteps along the way." In an interview in Beijing, Smith said Rodmans singing of "Happy Birthday" to Kim before the exhibition game at a Pyongyang stadium was something that he alone had decided to do. "I think that it might not have been the right thing to do, but he did it ... if it was done in private it would be different, but when its done in the open like that, people are going to have opinions." During the trip, Rodman was also slammed for not using his influence with Kim to help free Kenneth Bae, the missionary in poor health who has been detained for more than a year for "anti-state crimes." Rodman apologized last week for comments he made in a CNN interview implying Bae was at fault, saying he had been drinking and was upset because some of his teammates were under pressure to leave. Smith said the controversy surrounding Bae was a "bad situation" that "overshadowed some of the things that we were doing." "Dennis is not a member of the State Department, he is not a member of the UN," Smith said. "For them to put the flag in his hands and say go and negotiate and talk about it, he probably would have made it worse, you know." He said North Korean officials had invited the team back "at any given time." On Monday, Rodman reiterated that his trip was one of goodwill. "This is not a bad deal," he said. "I want to show people that no matter whats going on in the world, for one day, just one day, no politics, not all that stuff. "Im sorry for all the people and whats going on, Im sorry," he continued. "Im not the president, Im not an ambassador, Im just an individual that wants to show the world the fact that we can actually get along and be happy for one day." Rodman and Kim struck up a friendship when the basketball-player-turned-celebrity first travelled to the secretive state last year. Kenneth Faried Jersey . Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., were third with 210.84 points. Teammates Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were fourth. Duhamel and Radford, who were seventh at the Sochi Olympics, also won bronze at last years world championships in London, Ont. Theo Pinson Nets Jersey . Showing more spark after not taking enough challenging shots on goal in their 1-0 loss Friday night, the Bruins had 18 shots in the first period after managing just 25 in the entire opener. Luke Glendening cut Bostons lead to 2-1 at 13:20 of the second period before Milan Lucic scored late in the second and Zdeno Chara added a power-play goal early in the third. https://www.netsrookiesshop.com/Customized/ .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Packers by 3RECORD VS. SPREAD — New England 7-4, Green Bay 5-5-1SERIES RECORD — Tied 5-5.Wimbledon, England - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska and 2011 titlist Petra Kvitova were a trio of second-round winners, while former world No. 1 star Victoria Azarenka was ousted Wednesday at The Championships. The second-seeded Li defeated Austrian Yvonne Meusburger 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour. The Chinese star converted 6-of-10 break-point opportunities and held a lopsided 33-4 advantage in winners. The two-time Grand Slam champion Li will meet Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova on Friday. The fourth-seeded Radwanska was tested in the first set by Australian Casey Dellacqua before posting a 6-4, 6-0 victory in less than an hour on Centre Court. The Polish star was the runner-up at the All England Club two years ago. Radwanskas third-round opponent will be Portugals Michelle Larcher de Brito. The sixth-seeded left-hander Kvitova drubbed German Mona Barthel 6-2, 6-0 to improve to an impressive 21-5 lifetime at Wimbledon. Up next for Kvitova will be five-time Wimbledon champ Venus Williams. The 30th-seeded Williams got past Japans Kurumi Nara 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 for her 73rd career match win here (73-11). The 34-year-old former world No. 1 Williams struck 46 winners, including seven aces, to reach the third round of a major for only the second time in her last 10 Grand Slam tournaments. The 6-foot-1 Williams towered over Nara, the shortest player in the womens top 100 at 5-foot-1. Meanwhile, Serbias Bojana Jovanovski knocked out a rusty eighth-seeded Azarenka 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. The two-time Australian Open champ Azarenka just returned to the tour last week, and lost her only match, after being sidelined with a foot injury for three months. Azarenka reached back-to-back Wimbledon semifinals in 2011 and 2012 before pulling out in the second round here a year ago due to an injury. In another match involving a former world No. 1, 16th-seeded Danish star Caroline Wozniacki committed only two unforced errors in cruising past British wild card Naomi Broady 6-3, 6-2 in a mere 59 miinutes. Jaylen Hands Nets Jersey. Wozniacki, who is still seeking a trip into her first-ever Wimbledon quarterfinal, will meet little-known Croat Ana Konjuh in the round of 32. In other play involving top-16 seeds, No. 10 Aussie Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova, of Slovakia, edged out Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 and American Lauren Davis upended No. 12 Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Also, 22nd-seeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova bested Japans Misaki Doi 7-5, 6-4; 23rd-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova saw her way past Slovenian Polona Hercog 7-6 (9-7), 7-5; Zahlavova Strycova upset 32nd-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2; and talented Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia took out American Varvara Lepchenko 7-5, 6-3. Other second-round action saw Larcher de Brito get past Aussie Jarmila Gajdosova 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Chinese Peng Shuai paste Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 6-3; Konjuh beat Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; and Czech Tereza Smitkova cool off American Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Vandeweghe captured her first-ever WTA title, on grass, in The Netherlands last week. The first round concluded Wednesday when 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva, of Russia, snuck past Brit Tara Moore 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 9-7 and Kazakhstans Zarina Diyas topped Frances Kristina Mladenovic 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. The second round is scheduled to conclude Thursday, including a match for top- seeded Serena Williams, who will be opposed by South African Chanelle Scheepers. The American great is a 17-time major champion, including five Wimbledon championships, just like her older sister, Venus. Meanwhile, third-seeded French Open runner-up Simona Halep will face Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko and fifth-seeded Roland Garros champion Maria Sharapova will take on Swiss Timea Bacsinszky. Sharapova captured her lone Wimbledon title by upsetting Serena in the final here 10 years ago. Also on Thursdays schedule will be 11th-seeded former top-ranked star Ana Ivanovic and 13th-seeded two-time 2014 Grand Slam semifinalist Eugenie Bouchard. ' ' '
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