■SOCCER
Gazza taken to hospital
Former England star Paul Gascoigne was taken to hospital after an incident at a London hotel, police sources said on yesterday. Ambulance crews and police were called to the Knightsbridge hotel on Sunday afternoon, from where Gascoigne voluntarily went to hospital where he was being assessed. No offense was reported and no further action was taken, police said. “A man was causing concern in a hotel in SW1,” police said in a statement.” He was tended to by an ambulance crew and taken to hospital voluntarily.” The 40-year-old former Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, known as Gazza, has battled with alcohol and personal problems. In February he was detained under the mental health act after a disturbance at a hotel in Gateshead. He was released after two weeks of treatment.
■BADMINTON
Officials look out for fixing
Malaysian officials will be on the lookout for the “menace” of match-fixing during the finals of the Thomas and Uber cups in Jakarta next week. Malaysian sport was rocked by a scandal last month in which six soccer players from Sarawak were detained by Anti-Corruption Agency officers investigating match-fixing allegations. There has also been speculation that badminton players have been involved in arranging results. The finals of the Thomas and Uber cups, from May 11 to May 18 in Jakarta, Indonesia, are the most prestigious team events in international badminton. “Yes, we have heard stories about shuttlers fixing matches but this is only hearsay. It’s very hard to prove such cases,” Nadzmi Salleh, president of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times yesterday. “We will be monitoring the players in Jakarta to ensure they stay away from this menace. We have been conducting such checks for quite some time now.”
■SOCCER
FA probes gambling patterns
The English Football Association is to investigate a League Two result after at least two bookmakers closed betting on the match because of unusual gambling patterns. Accrington Stanley lost 2-0 to Bury on Saturday in the last round of the season. William Hill closed the book on the match on Friday evening, while Coral stopped bets at 1:45pm on Saturday — both because of large amounts being placed on Bury to win. Both companies would normally stop taking bets at the kickoff, which was 3pm on Saturday. “We were seeing substantial money for just one result, Bury to win,” William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said on Sunday. “We shortened the price four times and we were still seeing people wanting to bet. That was the point at which we decided to close the book. I can’t ever recall us taking this action on an English league game.” Sharpe said William Hill contacted the Football League, which governs the three lower divisions of English soccer. FA spokesman Adrian Bevington said it would investigate the issue. Accrington Stanley chief executive Rob Heys said the club would also investigate.
■TENNIS
Chilean wins BMW Open
Fernando Gonzalez captured his 10th career title and second of the year on Sunday at the BMW Open by beating Simone Bolelli of Italy 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-3. The second-seeded Chilean wasted two match points while leading 5-4 in the second set in the clay-court match. He went on to win after breaking serve for the first time in the match at 2-2 in the final set. Bolelli playing in his first final, upset top-seeded Paul Henri-Mathieu of France in the semi-finals.
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