■ SOCCER
Thaksin regrets flag insult
Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra has apologized to the Thai people after a group of the club’s fans emblazoned his name on the national flag, a crime in his homeland. The flag was unfurled reading “Thank you, Thaksin” during City’s home loss to Fulham a week ago, a shock defeat that fueled speculation that manager Sven-Goran Eriksson will be sacked. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundarajev was not amused, while Thai police were reportedly mulling charges against the former premier for disrespecting the flag. In Thailand it is a crime to alter or deface the flag in any way. “I regret the incident by Manchester City fans in England, who were trying to show their love for the club and for Thailand,” Thaksin was quoted as saying in the Thai-language Daily News. “It’s OK in their culture, and once we explained the problem to them, they expressed their regret,” he said.
■ SOCCER
Wife's uncle sues Eduardo
Arsenal striker Eduardo Da Silva is being sued for 1.2 million euros (US$1.8 million) by his wife’s uncle over an unpaid transfer commission when he joined Arsenal last year. Zagreb estate agent Miljenko Radivojeciv says Eduardo has failed to honor a “working contract” they both signed in 2003 and which he believes entitles him to commission from any transfer to a foreign club. The amount Radivojevic says his nephew owes him represents 10 percent of the reported 12 million euro transfer fee when Eduardo moved from Dinamo Zagreb to Arsenal last year. Legal proceedings were started on Monday in a Zagreb court, the Hina news agency reported. Eduardo’s lawyer says the player and his wife are extremely concerned about their uncle’s decision to go to court. “They can’t understand that someone’s trying to take advantage of the transfer, especially someone who has done nothing for them, aside from buying Da Silva a pair of trainers,” Miroslav Separovic said.
■ BASEBALL
Argument sparks bar killing
After an argument over rival baseball teams spilled outside a bar in Nashua, New Hampshire, a woman aimed her car at a group of people to scare them and didn’t brake, hitting and killing a man, authorities and witnesses said. Ivonne Hernandez was arraigned on Monday on reckless second-degree murder and drunken driving charges and was held without bail. Hernandez, 43, early on Friday sped toward a small group that included the man, Matthew Beaudoin, 29, and never hit her brakes, prosecutor Susan Morrell said on Monday. Beaudoin died of massive head trauma at a hospital, Morrell said. Authorities won’t describe the argument, but witnesses said it heated up when Hernandez identified herself as a New York Yankees fan. Nashua, about 70km northwest of Boston, is the territory of the Boston Red Sox.
■ SOCCER
Milan get Flamini for free
AC Milan have signed Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini on a four-year deal after capturing the Frenchman on a free transfer, the Italian giants said on Monday. The 24-year-old turned down a new deal offered by Gunners manager Arsene Wenger prior to his contract running out at the end of the current season, meaning he heads to the reigning European champions for free. Flamini arrived in Milan on Sunday and sailed through a medical on Monday before putting pen to paper. The former Marseille player came notably to Milan’s notice when he played a major role in their elimination by Arsenal at the last 16 stage of this season’s Champions League.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with