■SOCCER
Ex-Argentina star near death
Former Argentina defender Fernando Caceres is in a grave condition with a bullet in his head after resisting a robbery. The 40-year-old Caceres, who played for Argentina at the 1994 World Cup, was shot in the head early on Sunday after a group of car-jackers tried to steal his BMW in Buenos Aires. Diego Maradona called crime a “time bomb” in Argentina after visiting Caceres early on Monday. He told T and C Sports that leaving your house is a risk and that nobody in the government is doing anything about it. Caceres also played for Spanish teams Zaragoza, Valencia and Celta de Vigo and Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Boca Juniors and Independiente in Argentina.
■RUGBY UNION
Ex-’Boks skipper gets boot
Former Springbok captain Joost van der Westhuizen has been fired from his job as a television commentator after admitting he had indulged in an extra-marital sexual liaison and taken drugs. The 38-year-old told the South African newspaper the Sunday Times that the termination of his contract with pay-television station SuperSport was part of “my punishment for my mistakes.” The admission is made in Van der Westhuisen’s forthcoming biography.
■FOOTBALL
Saints stay unbeaten
The Saints equaled their best start to an NFL season with Pierre Thomas scoring two touchdowns in a 35-27 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday that gave them a seventh consecutive victory. Drew Brees had 308 yards passing and Jabari Greer returned an interception for a score to help the Saints equal the club’s unbeaten start in 1991. Greer’s touchdown was the Saints’ fifth score on an interception this season, equaling a single-season club mark set in 1998. Tracy Porter also had an interception on the Saints’ 1-yard line on a pass tipped by Jonathan Vilma in the fourth quarter, preserving a 28-24 lead. Darren Sharper sealed the win with his seventh interception of the season in the final seconds, the third interception of the game thrown by Matt Ryan.
■ICE HOCKEY
Islanders stretch streak
Brendan Witt posted his first two-goal game in the NHL as the New York Islanders stretched their winning streak to a season-high four games with a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. Witt, a defenseman in his 14th NHL season, has netted only 25 in his 862-game career and had gone 92 contests since his previous goal on Jan. 22, last year, at Carolina. Doug Weight, New York’s 38-year-old captain, helped set up rookie John Tavares’ first-period goal and earned another assist on Witt’s second. New York lost its first six games of the season but has won five since. Ethan Moreau scored for Edmonton, which has lost five of six overall and has dropped five straight on the road. In other NHL action on Monday it was Flyers 6, Lightning 2 and Kings 5, Coyotes 3.
■SQUASH
Gaultier wins at World Open
World No. 1 Gregory Gaultier reached the last 16 of the World Open after beating world No. 32 Julian Illingworth of the US 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3. He next plays Ong Beng Hee, the 13th seeded Malaysian, and the winner could play the in-form Nick Matthew, the fifth seeded British Open champion from England. Ramy Ashour — the defending world champion played well in fits and starts while winning 12-10, 11-8, 11-3 against fellow-Egyptian Omar Mosaad.
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