■BASEBALL
Azocar dies of heart attack
Oscar Azocar, a former major league outfielder with the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres in the early 1990s, died of a heart attack on Monday in his native Venezuela. He was 45. Azocar died in a hospital in the city of Valencia in central Venezuela, said Diogenes Nazar, press spokesman for local professional team Navegantes del Magallanes — one of the sides Azocar played for. Azocar, who started his playing career as a pitcher before switching to the outfield, joined the Yankees in 1990 and a year later moved to the Padres, where he played until 1992. He also played for a number of Venezuelan professional teams, including the Leones del Caracas, Tigres de Aragua and Tiburones de La Guaira.
■BASKETBALL
Walker to stand trial
A judge on Monday ruled that former NBA player Antoine Walker must stand trial over unpaid gambling debts of nearly US$1 million to three casinos. Walker didn’t speak on Monday as he appeared with his attorney, Jonathan Powell, before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson.
The 33-year-old Walker, who won an NBA title with Miami in 2006, remains free without bail until his June 30 arraignment in state court. Andress-Tobiasson noted that Walker hasn’t made any progress repaying some US$770,000 he owes on a promise last November to pay US$905,050 in restitution, court fees and penalties. Andress-Tobiasson bound Walker over for trial in Clark County District Court on three criminal charges of writing bad checks. If convicted, Walker could face up to 12 years in prison on the combined charges.
■TENNIS
Bogdanovic wins qualifier
Britain’s Alex Bogdanovic moved closer to earning a place in the main draw at Wimbledon through his own efforts after winning his opening qualifying match at Roehampton on Monday. Bogdanovic has been heavily criticized after receiving wild cards into Wimbledon for the last eight years and then losing in the first round of the grasscourt Grand Slam on each occasion. The British No. 2 was not recommended for a wildcard for this year’s Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, despite being well inside the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) guideline cut-off point of 250 in the world rankings.
■CRICKET
NZ to tour Zimbabwe
New Zealand are looking to resume tours of Zimbabwe next year as a measure of political calm returns to the African country, officials from both nations said yesterday. A scheduled tour to Zimbabwe this month was postponed by New Zealand Cricket, the second time the tour originally scheduled for the middle of last year had been put off. But New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan, after meeting Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister David Coltart in Christchurch, said yesterday that a tour by the national team was on the cards next year. Vaughan said New Zealand Minister for Sport and Recreation Murray McCully had a “positive meeting” with Coltart in Wellington this week. “It is clear from that meeting that our government’s position is that they would not oppose New Zealand touring Zimbabwe next year,” Vaughan said. The planned tour this year was canceled after the New Zealand government expressed concerns about player safety. Zimbabwe has been battered by a decade of political turmoil and increasing poverty.
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