■BASEBALL
Irabu joins Fighting Dogs
Former New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu has reached an agreement to play for a team in a Japanese independent league. The 40-year-old Irabu will pitch for the Kochi Fighting Dogs of the Shikoku-Kyushu Island League, team officials said on Saturday. Irabu signed with the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League in April and posted a 5-3 record with an ERA of 3.58. He made 10 starts with 65 innings pitched and struck out 66 batters while walking only 19. Irabu started his career with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League and joined the Yankees in 1997 on a US$12.8 million, four-year contract. After three seasons with the Yankees, Irabu played for the Montreal Expos and Texas Rangers before returning to Japan to play for the Hanshin Tigers in 2003, helping the team win the Central League pennant. A year ago, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a bartender after drinking 20 mugs of beer at a bar in Osaka. Police said he admitted the assault.
■BOXING
‘Maco’ dies after bus crash
Panamanian super bantamweight Jose “Maco” Arboleda died from injuries suffered when the bus he took to training crashed over a cliff, media reported. Arboleda, who was 27, suffered stomach and lung injuries in the crash on Friday morning and died 22 hours later, the Panamanian newspaper El Siglo said on its Web site. He had a 23-4 record with nine knockouts and two draws.
■CYCLING
Ballan wins Tour of Poland
Italy’s Alessandro Ballan, of the Lampre team, won the 66th edition of the Tour of Poland in Krakow on Saturday after the seventh and final stage. The 136km stage, from Rabka to Krakow, was won by Germany’s Andre Greipel of the Columbia squad. World champion Ballan wasn’t assured of victory before Saturday’s mountainous finale, having only an 11-second lead over closest rival Advald Boasson Hagen of Norway, who had won the two of the earlier stages of the race. But the Norwegian failed to make any impression on the peloton and Ballan could breathe easy with Daniel Moreno Fernandez of Spain eventually edging Boasson Hagen for second spot overall, 10 seconds behind. “The fifth stage leading out of Krynica was decisive. I won that and took the yellow jersey,” Ballan said. “It was my first victory since the world championships last year and it’s an important victory because I have had some health problems and a mediocre season.”
■BASKETBALL
Dropout may play in Israel
The foreign odyssey of the basketball trailblazer Jeremy Tyler will probably begin in Israel. Tyler, a 211cm prospect from San Diego, is on the cusp of signing with Maccabi Haifa, which finished in second place in Israel’s top division last season. “We are very close,” said Sonny Vaccaro, an adviser to Tyler. “Everyone is in agreement. His agents need to formalize everything.” Tyler, 18, became the first player to drop out of high school to play basketball professionally outside the US. He had originally committed to Louisville, but instead took the road of Brandon Jennings, who played in Rome last season and became the No. 10 pick in the NBA draft. Tyler will play two seasons abroad before being eligible for the 2011 draft. He will team with the former Southern California forward Davon Jefferson, who starred for the team last season as it finished runner-up to the traditional power Maccabi Tel Aviv. “It’s a good situation,” Tyler said on Friday, “but I’m not sure at this point.”
■SOCCER
Mills hangs up his boots
Former Manchester City and England fullback Danny Mills retired from soccer on Saturday after admitting defeat in his battle to recover from a serious knee injury. Mills suffered the problem more than a year ago and has been told it will not recover sufficiently to allow him to resume his career. The 32-year-old, who also played for Norwich City, Charlton Athletic and Leeds United, won 19 caps for England and played at the 2002 World Cup. “Unfortunately, I have now got to the situation where I can no longer continue to play,” he told BBC Radio Five Live. “So, really as from today, I’ll be retiring from the professional game and looking to do other things. It has been difficult ... I’ve been around the world – America, Germany, Sweden, London — I’ve been everywhere trying to get it sorted. I’m likely to have another operation in three or four months’ time ... Basically, the knee just can’t cope with it any more.”
■RUGBY UNION
Richards resigns from ’Quins
The fall-out from Harlequins’ fake-injury scandal continued on Saturday with the resignation of the club’s director of rugby, Dean Richards. Richards’ departure comes after Harlequins were fined £215,000 (US$358,000) and winger Tom Williams was suspended for 12 months over an incident in last season’s European Cup quarter-final with eventual champions Leinster. Williams was found guilty of faking a blood injury so that he could be replaced in the dying minutes with his side trailing 6-5 by New Zealand kicker Nick Evans. Evans had left the field injured in the 47th minute, while his replacement, Chris Malone, also had to go off injured. TV footage appeared to show Williams winking as he left the pitch. Harlequins are reviewing the incident and a statement released on Saturday read: “During the course of this process, Dean Richards unreservedly tendered his resignation from his post as director of rugby. The board of Harlequins has accepted his resignation.”
■CRICKET
Mortaza to go under knife
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza needs surgery on both knees and is expected to have an operation today, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said on Saturday. Mortaza visited Australian orthopedic surgeon David Young in Melbourne on Friday and was advised to have arthroscopic surgery on his knees, the BCB said in a statement. “The surgery is likely to be performed on Monday, after which an assessment will be made on the extent of the injury and the possible duration for recovery.” Mortaza fell awkwardly while bowling on the third day of the first Test against the West Indies at St Vincent last month, limped off the field and has been sidelined ever since.
■VOLLEYBALL
Puerto Rico stun Russia
Puerto Rico pulled off an upset against world champions Russia for their first win at the World Grand Prix women’s volleyball on Saturday. Aurea Cruz scored 28 points, while Sarai Alvarez scored 22 points to lead Puerto Rico to a 25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 28-26 success in the four-team round-robin competition. “This was a historical moment for Puerto Rico. It was the first time for me to play against Russia as the head coach of the women’s team, so this game had special meaning,” Puerto Rico’s Argentine coach Carlos Cardona said. “It is very significant for the country and for the team that we won today. It was our first win in the Grand Prix.” In the second match, Japan defeated South Korea 22-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-10 for their second straight win in Osaka.
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
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two