■ Basketball
Timberwolves fire coach
The Minnesota Timberwolves fired head coach Dwane Casey on Tuesday and named assistant coach Randy Wittman as coach of the NBA team for the rest of the season. The Timberwolves have lost four straight games to slip back to the .500 mark at 20-20, and the club was underachieving in the mind of vice president of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale. "We started the season with certain goals and expectations that have not been met," McHale told reporters. "We've struggled with being consistent throughout the year and ultimately that's the head coach's responsibility. I want to thank Dwane for his hard work and commitment to this team, and wish him well." Casey posted a record of 53-69 in less than two full seasons as head coach of the T-Wolves. He spent 11 seasons as an assistant with the Seattle SuperSonics prior to taking the job in Minnesota.
■ Football
Tank Johnson can play
Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson will play in the Super Bowl -- with court approval and a warning from a judge to stay out of trouble. Cook County Judge John Moran granted a defense request on Tuesday to allow Johnson to leave the state as he awaits trial on gun possession charges. The Bears will play the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl in Miami on Feb. 4. Moran set no special restrictions on Johnson but said he must obey the law "or dire consequences will result." Johnson was arrested on Dec. 14 after police raided his home in Gurnee, about 65km northwest of Chicago. Prosecutors say officers found three rifles, three handguns and ammunition in Johnson's home. He faces 10 counts of possession of firearms without a state gun-owner identification card.
■ Soccer
Haiti wins Caribbean Cup
Haiti won the Caribbean Cup by defeating Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 in Tuesday's soccer final in Port-of-Spain, and Cuba claimed third place after downing Guadeloupe 2-1. First-time winner Haiti, contesting only its second final in the Cup's 18-year history, emerged triumphant after a competition lasting 73 matches and involving 25 teams. Eight-time winner Trinidad, fielding a fledgling side because of club commitments for many star players, fell behind in the 22nd minute when Alexandre Boucicaut scored off a rebound. The strength and pace of Eliphene Cadet took him round the Trinidad defense on the right flank, and his cross found Fucien Brunel, whose shot was saved by Jan Michael Williams but Boucicaut followed up. Brunel profited from confusion in the penalty area to double the advantage in the 51st.
■ Ice Hockey
East defeats West
New Jersey Devils forward Zach Parise had two goals and four assists to lead the Eastern Conference over the Western Conference 9-8 in the NHL YoungStars game on Tuesday. Parise, a first-round pick by the Devils in 2003, was selected the MVP. Boston's Phil Kessel scored his third goal four minutes into the third period, assisted by Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal and Parise to give the East a 9-4 lead. The West scored the last four goals in the game, and had a chance to tie in the final 30 seconds when Finland's Jussi Jokinen of the hometown Dallas Stars -- the lowest draft pick in the game, picked 192nd overall in the sixth round in 2001 -- missed from the front of the net. Jokinen had a goal in the first period and another was disallowed.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was