■ SOCCER
Fluminense fans storm field
Fluminense fans invaded the team's training session on Tuesday, handing out dolls and liquor bottles to the players in a mocking gesture to vent their displeasure at the team's disappointing season. "We want the least amount of dignity and respect with Fluminense," read a banner opened by the nearly 40 fans who entered the field at the team's practice ground in Rio de Janeiro. The fans gave players the dolls as a sign the team was playing like children as well as bottles of sugarcane rum, a traditional Brazilian liquor, to symbolize a lackadaisical attitude, local media reported. Midfielder Carlos Albert verbally confronted some of the fans. Club directors and about 10 police officers ended the 10-minute protest and nobody was hurt.
■ ICE HOCKEY
Canada claim women's title
Canada reclaimed the women's world ice hockey championship with a 5-1 victory over the US in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Tuesday. Canada, winner of the Olympic gold medal last year, lost the last world championship two years ago to the US in a shootout. Jennifer Botterill, Jayna Hefford, Hayley Wickenheiser, Danielle Goyette and Sarah Vaillancourt scored for Canada before an announced sellout of 15,003 at the MTS Center. Kim St. Pierre stopped 20 of 21 shots for the win. Sweden beat Finland 1-0 for the bronze medal.
■ SOCCER
Maradona leaves hospital
Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona was released from the hospital at around midnight on Tuesday after a nearly two-week stay for alcohol abuse treatment, a source at the Guemes clinic in Bueno Aires said on condition of anonymity. "There was a meeting between his family members and the doctors and they decided to release him." Maradona had suffered from alcohol-induced hepatitis and was sedated for days to help ease his withdrawal. Maradona's personal doctor, Alfredo Cahe, told reporters earlier on Tuesday that he hoped Maradona could travel to Switzerland soon to continue his treatment there.
■ FIGURE SKATING
Slutskaya expecting a baby
Two-time Olympic skating medalist Irina Slutskaya will leave the Champions on Ice tour because she is expecting her first child. The 28-year-old Slutskaya will be staying at her home in Russia during her pregnancy. Slutskaya and her husband, Sergei Micheev, are expecting their first child this autumn. Slutskaya married Micheev, a Russian fitness instructor, in 1999. Slutskaya has been treated for vasculitis, an ailment which results in the inflammation of the blood vessels.
■ ICE HOCKEY
Blackhawks win lottery
The Chicago Blackhawks won the National Hockey League draft lottery on Tuesday, gaining the first overall selection in June's draft. Based on the inverse order of regular-season finish, the Blackhawks had the fifth-greatest percentage (8.1) of picking first. Under the lottery system, only the five teams with the fewest points had the chance to win the first overall selection. No team could move up more than four spots and no team could move backward more than one. The Blackhawks will have the top pick for the first time in club history. The Philadelphia Flyers, who had the greatest chance to win the lottery, will have to settle for picking second. The third pick went to the Phoenix Coyotes, who are followed by the Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals.
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