HOCKEY
Gillies suspended, fined
New York Islanders forward Trevor Gillies was suspended for 10 games and fined more than US$60,000 on Friday for striking an opponent in the head from behind. Gillies, who has only just returned from serving a nine-game suspension for a similar offense, landed himself in more trouble with officials after he slammed the Minnesota Wild’s Cal Clutterbuck into the boards in a game on Wednesday. Under the terms of the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Gillies was treated as a repeat offender so his punishment included a US$60,975 fine — or almost a fifth of his US$500,000 salary — that goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
FOOTBALL
McCarthy nabs extension
Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has been rewarded for his Super Bowl triumph with a multi-year contract extension, the NFL team said on Friday. The Packers, who beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in last month’s Super Bowl for their first title in 14 years, did not disclose terms of the deal beyond calling it a “multi-year” contract. “We are very pleased to finalize this agreement with Mike,” Packers general manager Ted Thompson said in a statement. “He’s a good football coach, a good leader and a good man.” McCarthy had two years remaining on his current contract and the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel said the extension was for three more years.
BASEBALL
Cervelli out with fracture
New York Yankees backup catcher Francisco Cervelli will miss the start of the Major League Baseball season after fracturing his foot. Cervelli will be in a protective boot for at least four weeks after fouling a ball off his left foot in a game several days ago against the Houston Astros, Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters today in Tampa, Florida. With Russell Martin signed during the offseason to be the Yankees’ starting catcher, the team doesn’t have plans to use Jorge Posada, who is now New York’s designated hitter, as a catcher during spring-training games. Cervelli played in 93 games last season, batting .271 with 38 runs batted in and 11 doubles.
TENNIS
Jankovic through to semis
Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia reached the semi-finals of the Monterrey Open with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over fifth-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. Jankovic next will face No. 8 seed Polona Hercog of Slovenia, who defeated Belarus’ Olga Govortsova 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Second-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia overcame a determined Greta Arn of Hungary 6-2, 7-6 (3) to advance to the semi-finals. Pavlyuchenkova will play Gisela Dulko of Argentina, who downed Russian Ksenia Pervak 6-1, 6-0.
BASEBALL
Castro undergoes surgery
Houston Astros catcher Jason Castro will miss most or all of the Major League Baseball season after having surgery on his right knee, the team said on Friday. Castro, who earned the Astros’ regular catching job last year as a rookie, was injured while trying to avoid a tag at first base during a pre-season game against Detroit on Wednesday. He had surgery on Friday to repair a large tear of the medial meniscus and a reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. The team, which opens the regular season on April 1, said he was expected to miss six months.
Agencies
SOCCER
Duke used to lure votes
England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid tried to use Prince Andrew’s relationship with the Qatari royal family to secure a voting alliance, a report said yesterday. The BBC claimed a freedom of information request it submitted showed that diplomats and the Football Association had worked on a strategy for Qatar’s support. Andrew, 51, the Duke of York, has served as Britain’s special representative for international trade and investment since 2001, and has significant influence and contacts worldwide. Correspondence from British diplomats in Qatar made it clear that securing the support of the emir would be crucial to England’s chances of landing the 2018 tournament, the BBC said. Its report said a plan was discussed to use royal influence — Andrew in particular — to secure a voting alliance. One e-mail from a Foreign Office official said: “The advice from the ambassador in Doha is that, subject to anything that happened at that meeting, we should ask the duke to be kind enough to speak to the emir on the phone as soon as is convenient ... in order to seek his support for the England bid.”
SOCCER
Ferguson to fight charges
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has vowed to fight improper conduct charges following his criticism of referee Martin Atkinson, the club announced on Friday. Ferguson appeared to question Atkinson’s impartiality following United’s 2-1 loss at Chelsea on Tuesday, which saw the Red Devils manager hit out at Atkinson’s failure to dismiss Blues defender David Luiz. The United manager has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association and faces a lengthy touchline ban if it is upheld. In a scathing post-match tirade broadcast on Manchester United’s official television channel, Ferguson gave a damning verdict on Atkinson’s display. “You want a fair ref. I don’t know how he got this game. I must say, when I saw who it was, I did fear that,” Ferguson told MUTV.
SOCCER
Fan tries to stab Mourinho
A fan tried to stab Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho at a Spanish airport, but ended up injuring his bodyguard instead, Spain’s Cadena Ser radio network reported on Friday. The attack at A Coruna airport in northwestern Spain occurred when Mourinho was signing autographs. The bodyguard only became aware of the stab wound when he boarded a bus. According to El Mundo newspaper, the attacker had targeted the Portuguese coach.
CYCLING
Matthews wins first stage
Michael Matthews of Australia won the first stage of the Vuelta de Murcia by sprinting ahead of the pack after a 178.7km ride from San Pedro del Pinatar to Alhama de Murcia in Spain on Friday. The Rabobank rider crossed the line in 4 hours, 26 minutes, 9 seconds after handling the cold and often rainy conditions. Britain’s Russell Downing was second and Italy’s Davide Appollonio was third, both on the same time, while Tour de France champion Alberto Contador finished 14th in a second pack, two seconds behind.
SWIMMING
Phelps claims butterfly title
Michael Phelps took the early lead in the 200m butterfly on Friday night and held off Brazil’s Kaio Almeida to win his third gold medal at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. The 14-time Olympic gold medalist and world record holder in the event finished in 1 minute, 55.34 seconds. Almeida was second in 1 minute, 55.85 seconds, while Wu Peng of China was third.
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