■BASEBALL
Baltimore fire manager
Dave Trembley was fired on Friday as manager of the Baltimore Orioles, who have the worst record in Major League Baseball and are staggering toward a team-record 13th consecutive losing season. Third base coach Juan Samuel was appointed interim manager by president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, who hired Trembley to take over on an interim basis for Sam Perlozzo in June 2007. The Orioles opened with 16 losses in 18 games, have a 15-39 win-loss record and are coming off a winless six-game road trip in which they were outscored 34-8 in Toronto and at Yankee Stadium. “The results on the field were not what any of us would have hoped for, and I understand that the organization felt the time was right to move in a different direction,” Trembley said in a statement.
■BASEBALL
Grady Sizemore sidelined
Cleveland Indians All-Star outfielder Grady Sizemore will be sidelined for the rest of the year after having knee surgery on Friday, the team said. The 90-minute operation on his left knee also involved microfracture surgery, an intricate procedure requiring a recovery time of between six and nine months. “Grady is expected to participate in exhibition contests next March when camp opens in Goodyear, Arizona,” the Indians said in a statement. The loss of Sizemore for the rest of the season is a major blow to a Cleveland team already 11 games back of the American League Central division leading Minnesota Twins. Sizemore initially hurt his knee during spring training, but the 27-year-old played through the pain before aggravating the injury on May 16 against the Baltimore Orioles. Three days later, he was put on the disabled list. Following consultations with several doctors, he had arthroscopic surgery in Vail, Colorado, with Richard Steadman, a pioneer of microfracture surgery.
■CRICKET
Pakistan lifts Khan ban
The indefinite ban on former Pakistan captain Younis Khan was lifted yesterday, and a fine on current captain Shahid Afridi was revoked. “I have set aside the ban on Younis,” Pakistan Cricket Board arbitrator Irfan Qadir told reporters in Lahore after the hearing. Qadir said the board had already reconsidered Younis for future tours by naming him in a list of 35 probables, therefore there was no reason to keep an indefinite ban on the former captain. The board imposed the ban in March for Younis’ alleged infighting with another former captain Mohammad Yousuf during the winless tour of Australia early this year. Younis was not considered for this month’s Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, but it is likely he will be included in the team for the twin test series against Australia and England next month.
■RUGBY UNION
Barbarians beat Ireland
The Barbarians withstood a comeback from a second-string Ireland team to win 29-23 after scoring three tries to two in Limerick, Ireland, on Friday. Xavier Rush, George Smith and Cedric Heymans touched down for the all-star team at Thomond Park, with Butch James kicking 11 points and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde adding a penalty goal. Trailing 21-3, Ireland hit back with tries to Niall Ronan and Tony Buckley either side of halftime. Ronan O’Gara added 13 points. It was also the final professional game for former Ireland lock Malcolm O’Kelly, who played for the Barbarians. Ireland plays a test at New Zealand on June 12 in New Plymouth and takes on Australia in Brisbane on June 26.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but