ICE HOCKEY
Malhotra cleared to play
Vancouver Canucks center Manny Malhotra was cleared on Saturday to play in the Stanley Cup finals two months after suffering a serious eye injury. Malhotra, who had been expected to miss the rest of the season after having eye surgery in March, was given permission on Friday to join his teammates in some light contact at practice. “It’s obviously a very exciting prospect for me at this point,” Malhotra told reporters after Canucks coach Alain Vigneault gave him the green light earlier on Saturday. Vigneault did not say whether Malhotra would be in Vancouver’s lineup on Wednesday when the Canucks host the Boston Bruins for Game 1 in the best-of-seven series.
GOLF
Young leads Brazil Cup
Heather Bowie Young shot a 6-under 66 in chilly and rainy conditions on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead over Suzann Pettersen and Lindsey Wright in the LPGA Tour’s 36-hole Brazil Cup. Young had eight birdies and two bogeys at Itanhanga Golf Club in the 30-player exhibition event. Pettersen is coming off a victory last week in the Sybase Match Play Championship. Catriona Matthew, the 2009 winner while five months pregnant, was three strokes back at 69, along with Azahara Munoz and Mariajo Uribe. Defending champion Meaghan Francella had a 71, and Cristie Kerr, second in the Match Play event, opened with a 72.
BADMINTON
Denmark to play China
Denmark take on hot favorites China in the final of the Sudirman Cup, hoping to pull off a major shock in the holders’ own backyard. A Denmark side led by the experienced Peter Gade and Tine Baun overcame plucky Indonesia 3-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the world mixed team championships for only the second time. China, chasing their fourth Sudirman Cup on the bounce, brushed aside South Korea by the same scoreline. If Denmark are to achieve the improbable in Qingdao, they will need Gade, 34, and Baun, 31, on top form.
CYCLING
Zabriskie wins trial title
David Zabriskie won his fifth US professional cycling time trial title in Greenville, South Carolina, on Saturday. Zabriskie won the crown by 31 seconds, completing the 33.3km course in 40 minutes, 23.5 seconds. He won four titles in a row from 2006 to 2009, but did not compete last year. Last year’s winner, Taylor Phinney, finished 50 seconds adrift in seventh place. Tom Zirbel was second, Matthew Busche finished third and Brent Bookwalter finished fourth after three laps of the 11km circuit. The 180km US road race championship is today, the Memorial Day holiday in the US.
ATHLETICS
Hardee, Ennis lead in Hypo
Trey Hardee of the US and Jessica Ennis of Britain held commanding leads after the first day of the annual Hypo Meeting. Both Hardee and Ennis won the opening sprint event on Saturday to take control and never relinquished the lead after that. Hardee led the men’s decathlon with 4,553 points after five events to sit 263 points ahead of Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine. Mikk Pahapill of Estonia was another 118 points behind in third. Ennis looked set to defend her title from last year after earning 4,097 points in the first four events of the women’s heptathlon to lead Jisscia Zelinka of Canada by 300 points. Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands was third, another 30 points behind.
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
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care