■ Soccer
Maradona postpones trip
Argentine football legend Diego Maradona will postpone his Asian tour to give him time to recover from his recent stint in a rehabilitation clinic, an Argentine embassy official said yesterday. Maradona, 46, was due to head to Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand next week, but the tour has been postponed until late next month after his treatment for alcohol abuse, the official said. The star was released from a Buenos Aires clinic on May 6. "He needs time for physical therapy in order to recover from his treatment for alcoholism," the embassy source said.
■ Soccer
Nakamura honored again
Celtic's Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura completed an honors double on Sunday when he collected the Scottish Football Writers' Player of the Year award at the association's annual dinner. Last month, he was voted players' Player of the Year following an outstanding season for the Scottish champions. Nakamura remained unfazed by any language barrier, saying: "Playing is more important than the language and if you can play on the pitch you can learn the shouts."
■ Tennis
Morigami wins first WTA title
Japan's Akiko Morigami won her first WTA tournament after overcoming Marion Bartoli of France 6-1, 6-3 to win the Prague Open on Sunday. Bartoli broke Morigami's serve in the first game but, visibly hampered by a muscular injury, lost the next six games to lose the set in less than half an hour. The 24th world-ranked Bartoli had attention from a physiotherapist in the locker rooms before trying to get back in the match despite her handicap. It proved too tough a task, however, against a focused opponent who served impeccably and used the drop shot to good effect. The second set was decided in the fifth game when Morigami, ranked 60th in the world, broke Bartoli's service.
■ Cricket
Moody quits Sri Lanka post
Tom Moody quit as coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team to join Western Australia, state officials said yesterday. "We have been able to secure an internationally respected mentor with an impeccable record and in the prime of his coaching career," said Graeme Wood, chief executive of the Western Australian Cricket Association. Moody will take over as head coach of Western Australia state on July 1, Wood said. Sri Lankan authorities, in a statement from Colombo, said Moody had "conveyed his inability to continue with Sri Lanka Cricket at the end of his contract due to personal and family commitments. Sri Lanka is grateful to Tom for his valuable contribution to the success of the Sri Lanka national cricket team."
■ Tennis
Hewitt may court Roche
Lleyton Hewitt would be interested in hiring Tony Roche following the coach's split from Roger Federer, his manager said yesterday. Hewitt has been without a fulltime coach since Roger Rasheed quit the job in January. Roche had coached world number one Federer on a part-time basis from 2005, but the pair parted ways on Saturday. Newspapers have speculated that Roche may link up with Hewitt and the player's manager David Drysdale told reporters the former world number one would be interested. "I think he does need that little bit of extra support with him, I know he's getting frustrated at the moment because he's doing a lot of work and he's not getting the results," Drysdale said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two