■ITALY
Miccoli has Diego’s earring
Palermo forward Fabrizio Miccoli has revealed he was the mystery buyer of an earring seized from Diego Maradona last year as part payment of his tax arrears in Italy. The piece of jewelry was taken by police while Maradona was in Italy at a weight-loss clinic in September. He owes the Italian inland revenue more than 30 million euros (US$41 million) stemming from unpaid taxes when he played for Napoli and helped them to win the Serie A title in 1987 and 1990. Miccoli paid 25,000 euros for the earring at auction in January. “He knows that I have it,” Miccoli told yesterday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if he will return it to the Argentina coach. “It’ll be difficult to meet him now, but we’ll see each other soon. I called my son Diego in his honor.”
■AUSTRALIA
Thai trailblazer extends deal
Trailblazing Thai defender Surat Sukha has extended his contract with Melbourne Victory for a year, keeping him at the club until 2012, officials said yesterday. The 27-year-old has made 18 appearances including last month’s Grand Final since joining from Chonburi FC last year, when he became the A-League’s first Southeast Asian player. “He’s the first player from Southeast Asia to play at the highest level in Australia and we couldn’t be more impressed with the way he’s adapted and performed since joining the club,” operations manager Gary Cole said. “He’s fitted in so well, he’s always laughing and smiling and he and his family thoroughly enjoy living in Melbourne.”
■ARGENTINA
Palermo sets goals record
Argentina striker Martin Palermo, hoping to make Diego Maradona’s World Cup squad, set a Boca Juniors record of 220 goals when he scored twice in their 4-0 defeat of Arsenal in the Clausura championship on Monday. Palermo surpassed the 218 goals scored by Roberto Cherro, who had held the record since the late 1930s, when he tapped the ball home after nine minutes following a fine move by Juan Roman Riquelme and added another in the second half from fellow striker Nicolas Gaitan’s pass. The victory under new coach Roberto Pompei ended a run of three consecutive defeats in which Boca, whose previous coach Abel Alves quit on Friday, conceded nine goals. Riquelme also scored as Boca climbed to joint 14th in the standings. Palermo is in his second spell at Boca after his debut with the club in 1997 following a transfer from Estudiantes. He played for Villarreal, Real Betis and Alaves in Spain between 2001-2004. He has scored seven goals in 12 matches for Argentina and Maradona has said he has an 80 percent chance of being in his squad for the finals in South Africa starting on June 11.
■ARGENTINA
‘Monkey’ jibes earn ban
Argentine defender Matias Manrique has been banned for five matches after calling Ecuadorean defender Giovanny Espinoza a “monkey” in a match last month. Manrique, who plays for Nublense, said on Monday he did not plan to appeal the suspension. Espinoza plays for Chilean club Union Espanola. Espinoza testified to a league disciplinary panel that Manrique told him several times to “go eat a banana” and “you’re a monkey” in the March 27 game. In its report, the disciplinary panel said Manrique told them he did not mean the taunts to be racist and said he called Espinoza after the match to apologize.
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