■BASEBALL
Hanley Ramirez benched
Florida Marlins All-Star Hanley Ramirez was benched during his team’s 5-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday for showing a lack of effort, manager Fredi Gonzalez told the team’s Web site. The disciplinary action came in the second inning where shortstop Ramirez misplayed a ball, sending it into left field, where he casually jogged after it and allowed two Arizona runs. When the Marlins returned to the clubhouse from the field, Gonzalez exchanged words with Ramirez before the player was replaced by Brian Barden for the third inning. Despite being hobbled in the first when he fouled a pitch off of his shin, the manager did not accept the injury as an excuse.
■TENNIS
Nalbandian nurses injury
David Nalbandian has pulled out of the French Open with a left hamstring injury. Nalbandian announced the move on Monday on his Web site. He said he hopes to return in time to play Wimbledon, which begins on June 21. Nalbandian reached the Wimbledon final in 2002, losing to Lleyton Hewitt of Australia. The Argentine has been slowed by the hamstring problem for a month.
■TENNIS
Bondarenko beats Vinci
Sixth-seeded Alona Bondarenko beat Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-3, 6-1 on Monday to advance to the second round of the rain-disrupted Warsaw Open. Bondarenko’s match was delayed for several hours by heavy rainfall, and the Ukrainian’s sister Katerina Bondarenko then lost 6-3, 6-1 to defending champion Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania in the only other completed match of the day. The third match between Polish wild cards Marta Domachowska and Katarzyna Piter was halted at 1-1 in the first set and was to resume yesterday.
■TENNIS
Kubot beats Mina in Nice
Eighth-seeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland beat Gianni Mina of France 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Open de Nice on Monday. Kubot, a finalist in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, earlier this year, broke the French teenager three times and will next face Potito Starace of Italy. Earlier, Olivier Rochus of Belgium beat Adrian Mannarino of France 6-3, 6-1 to set up a meeting with top-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden. Leonardo Mayer rallied to defeat French qualifier David Guez 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. The Argentine hit six aces and converted all four break points. He will take on fourth-seeded Tomaz Bellucci of Brazil. Simon Greul of Germany downed local favorite Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-4, while Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-5, 6-2.
■ICE HOCKEY
Capitals sign Backstrom
Nicklas Backstrom signed a 10-year, US$67 million deal with the Washington Capitals on Monday, a major investment in a player who has rapidly developed into one of the best centers in the NHL. The 22-year-old Swede and two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin have developed a partnership that accounted for 210 points this season, making them the top scoring teammate duo in the league. “We now have two of maybe the top five players in the world playing on our team for many years to come,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. Ovechkin is about to enter the third year of a US$124 million, 13-year deal. Knowing that Ovechkin isn’t going anywhere played a part in Backstrom’s desire to commit to Washington for the long haul. “I was thinking that I wanted to play with him,” Backstrom said. “Hopefully he’ll want to play with me, too.”
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
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
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and