NETHERLANDS
Breda stun leaders PSV
Leaders PSV Eindhoven suffered a stunning 4-2 defeat at NAC Breda in the Dutch league on Friday as they missed the chance to go six points clear. Breda twice came from behind before goals by Ali Boussaboun and Matthew Amoah, with his second of the match, wrapped up the victory despite Kees Luijckx being sent off in the 74th. Twente Enschede would move level on 34 points with PSV at the top if they won at NEC Nijmegen yesterday. PSV took the lead through Jonathan Reis after 15 minutes before Amoah set up Leonardo to equalize on the half-hour, but Balazs Dzsudzsak put the visitors in front again in the 33rd. Amoah then headed home his first goal four minutes before the interval to leave the scores level at halftime. Boussaboun put Breda ahead five minutes into the second half and, after Luijckx was dismissed for a second booking, Amoah scored again 11 minutes from time to wrap up the points.
SCOTLAND
Portuguese refs pull out
A group of Portuguese referees has joined Polish match officials in withdrawing from plans to replace striking referees in this weekend’s Scottish Premier League matches. Poland’s football association backed out of an agreement reached on Thursday to send 12 match officials to Scotland to cover for referees who went on strike to protest clubs’ criticism of their recent performances. The Scottish Football Association said on Friday that all six topflight matches were still on, although a First Division game between Greenock Morton and Falkirk has been postponed. However, later Friday, Portuguese referees who had been brought in had also returned home. They were due to officiate in Hibernian’s home game against St Johnstone yesterday and the match today between Motherwell and Hearts. Israeli officials were due to run yesterday’s matches between Hamilton and St Mirren, and Kilmarnock and Aberdeen. A delegation from Luxembourg were to take charge of the weekend’s biggest matches. The officials were to take charge of Celtic’s home match against Inverness yesterday and Rangers’ visit to Dundee United today.
GERMANY
Van Gaal safe: Rummenigge
Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal’s job is safe despite the team being 14 points behind Bundesliga leader Borussia Dortmund close to the halfway mark of the season, according to club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “Van Gaal is not wobbling at all,” Rummenigge told yesterday’s edition of Bild newspaper. Rummenigge said the board remains convinced of Van Gaal’s qualities. “We have to go through this difficult stage together. Anything else would not be Bayern-like. After all, we are still on course in the German Cup and the Champions League,” Rummenigge said. Bayern won the domestic double last season and reached the Champions League final but the Bundelsiga title now appears out of reach.
FRANCE
Charisteas quits Arles
Greek striker Angelos Charisteas has agreed to quit Arles-Avignon by mutual consent, having failed to relaunch his career with the French first division strugglers. Charisteas, 30, joined Arles from Bundesliga side Nuremberg in the hope of reigniting his career after two frustrating years. However promoted Arles have won only one match in 14 starts, and the Greek striker failed to make an impact. Charisteas and the club reached agreement to bring his contract, due to expire at the end of the season, to an end with immediate effect.
BASEBALL
Dodgers resign Garland
The Los Angeles Dodgers strengthened their starting rotation on Friday by signing former All-Star pitcher Jon Garland to a one-year contract with a vesting option for 2012. The 31-year-old, who returns to the Dodgers after playing for the San Diego Padres last season, will link up with fellow pitchers Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda and Ted Lilly in Los Angeles. “We’re very pleased to have Jon join this group and give us five very strong starters going into spring training,” Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said in a statement. Each of the quintet won at least 10 games last season, with Garland going 14-12 for the Padres with a 3.47 ERA.
FORMULA ONE
Ricciardo gets reserve spot
Australian Daniel Ricciardo will drive for Toro Rosso in Friday morning free practice sessions as their official reserve at Grand Prix next season, the Formula One team said. Their race lineup of Switzerland’s Sebastien Buemi and Spain’s Jaime Alguersuari will remain unchanged, although each will have to give up a Friday session in turn. “When our team was created, its stated aim was to bring on young drivers from the Red Bull Junior Program, so Daniel’s appointment as our third driver is an obvious one,” team principal Franz Tost said on Friday. “Although Daniel has done some F1 testing already, running on Fridays at the Grand Prix will give him a valuable insight into the additional pressures of doing it for real during a race weekend. I am also sure that having a hungry youngster on the books will keep our current driver pairing nice and sharp.”
CYCLING
Contador submits documents
Three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador has submitted documents which he says prove that a piece of contaminated meat is to blame for his failed dope test, a source close to the Spaniard said on Friday. The source, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the case and therefore declined to be named, said Contador handed over all “necessary documents” to the Spanish federation on Friday. Contador, who failed a test for the banned anabolic agent clen-buterol during this year’s Tour, could lose his title if found guilty by the Spanish federation, who are expected to announce a decision within three months. The 27-year-old Contador, one of only five men with victories in all three grand Tours — the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana — could face a two-year ban from the sport.
BOBSLED
Machata wins season-opener
Germany’s Manuel Machata drove his two-man bobsled to a win at the first World Cup race of the season in Whistler, British Columbia, on Thursday at the Vancouver Olympic track. Machata — a World Cup rookie — and brakeman Andreas Bredau finished two runs in 1 minute, 44.06 seconds. There was a tie for second with Canada’s Lyndon Rush and brakeman Neville Wright, along with Germany’s Karl Angerer and Christian Friedrich, 0.19 seconds off the pace.
SKELETON
Montgomery edges Bromley
Canada’s Jon Montgomery won the World Cup skeleton season-opener on Friday night in Whistler, British Columbia, sliding to victory on the same track where he won gold at the Vancouver Olympics. Montgomery’s two-run time was 1 minute, 47.56 seconds. Britain’s Kristan Bromley was second, while Alexander Tretyakov of Russia finished third.
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
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two