■ Cricket
Sri Lanka tour rescheduled
Sri Lanka's abandoned tour of New Zealand has been rescheduled for April. New Zealand Cricket officials announced yesterday that two Tests would be played from April 4 to April 8 and April 11 to April 15 at venues still to be decided. The Tests were originally scheduled to take place this month but were postponed because of the south Asian tsunami disaster. New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden announced the Kiwis would host three one-day matches later this month against a Rest of the World team, captained by Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne to raise money for tsunami victims.
■ Cricket
Butcher out of tour
England batsman Mark Butcher's tour to South Africa ended on Monday when he was ruled out because of a wrist injury. "Mark will see a specialist in Johannesburg and fly home in the next few days," England media manager Dave Clarke said. "He tried to have a bat in the nets this morning but was unable to grip the bat." Warwickshire's Ian Bell will replace Butcher for the rest of the tour.
■ Tennis
Hrbaty fined for oranges
With a diamond-encrusted tennis ball in his luggage, Dominik Hrbaty could easily afford to smile about the NZ$200 (US$139) fine a pair of mandarin oranges in his pocket attracted at Auckland airport. The Slovak who, with Daniela Hantuchova, won the diamond trophy at last week's Hopman Cup, flew into New Zealand on Sunday to complete his preparation for next week's Australian Open and was fined by New Zealand customs for attempting to illegally import the fruit. "It was the most expensive mandarins I've ever had," he smiled.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care