SWIMMING
Phelps wins 100m butterfly
US swimming star Michael Phelps posted his second victory in two days, capturing the men’s 100m butterfly at the Canada Cup swimming competition on Sunday. The 14-time Olympic gold medalist, who turns 26 on Thursday, clocked 51.32 seconds to beat his compatriot Chris Brady by more than a second. On Saturday, Phelps cruised to victory in the 200m freestyle in the event which serves as a tune up for the World Championships in two weeks in Shanghai, China. Phelps could swim up to seven events at the world championships, including the 100m and 200m butterfly, the 200m freestyle, the 200m individual medley and three relays.
ICE HOCKEY
Sharks trade for Haylat
The San Jose Sharks continued their busy offseason overhaul by swapping Dany Heatley for fellow forward Martin Havlat in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. After snaring All-Star defenseman Brent Burns in a separate deal that sent forward Devin Setoguchi to the Wild, the Sharks are hoping to utilize Havlat’s breakaway speed to improve on consecutive unsuccessful trips to the Western Conference finals. The 30-year-old Havlat recorded 22 goals and 40 assists last season for the Wild and despite not playing in the post-season since 2009, the Czech winger does have 49 career playoff points in 67 games. Heatley enjoyed a two-year run with the Sharks that saw him notch 39 goals and 43 assists in the 2009-2010 campaign, along with 26 scores and 38 assists last season. However, the nine-year veteran underperformed in the playoffs and was unable to lead San Jose to their ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup finals appearance.
ICE HOCKEY
Leafs acquire Lombardi
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired forward Matthew Lombardi and defenseman Cody Franson from the Nashville Predators on Sunday, in exchange for defenseman Brett Lebda and prospect Robert Slaney. Looking for more offense, the Leafs rolled the dice on the speedy Lombardi, who played just two games last season due to a concussion, but a year earlier scored 19 goals while setting career highs in assists (34) and points (53) with the Phoenix Coyotes. Selected in the third round of the 2002 NHL draft by the Calgary Flames, Lombardi has 89 goals, 147 assists with 275 penalty minutes in 446 career games. The Leafs also added some depth to their blue line with the addition of the hulking 23-year-old Franson, who registered career highs in goals (8), assists (21), points (29) and penalty minutes (30) last season. In Lebda, the Predators get a mobile defenseman who never found a regular job in Toronto, scoring just one goal and three assists in 41 games.
GOLF
Cook edges Lu in Montreal
John Cook won the Montreal Championship for his third Champions Tour title of the year, closing with a six-under 66 on Sunday for a tournament-record 21-under 195 total. Cook, the runner-up last year at Fontainebleau Golf Club, beat Taiwan’s Lu Chien-soon (70) by three strokes. Joey Sindelar (68) was third at 17 under, and Bill Glasson (64), Corey Pavin (67) and Dan Forsman (68) were another stroke back. Canadian Rod Spittle broke the course record with a 62 to finish at 15 under. “To win coming from behind and win from being ahead, it’s two different animals, really,” Cook said. “Mr Lu did a nice job and he kind of got things going on the back side there and made some beautiful birdies coming down the stretch. He just battled all day and he wasn’t giving up.”
ATHLETICS
Townsend, Harrison win
Tiffany Townsend and Queen Harrison of the US won their races at the Znamensky Brothers Memorial track meet in Zhukovsky, Russia, on Sunday. Townsend finished the 200m in 22.84 seconds to edge countrywoman Charonda Williams by 0.05 seconds, while Harrison’s time of 12.88 seconds in the 100m hurdles was 0.09 seconds faster than compatriot Kristi Castlin. In the men’s 100m, Michael Frater of Jamaica ran 10.11 seconds to beat Ramil Guliyev of Turkey and Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis. In the women’s shot put, Belarussian world indoor champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk threw a season-best 20.94m, beating her mark of 20.59m set last month. US shot-putter Jillian Camarena-Williams was next with 19.15m. Olympic champion Andrey Silnov won the men’s high jump with a leap of 2.32m. Russian teammate Aleksandr Shustov was second with 2.29m. Defending champion Roba Gary of Ethiopia won the men’s 3,000m in 8 minutes, 12.74 seconds. Elijah Chelimo Kipterege was next, followed by fellow Kenyan Patric Terer. Hammer throw world record holder Betty Heidler won with a throw of 75.54m. Krisztian Pars of Hungary won the men’s hammer with a heave of 79.70m. In the men’s 800m, Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia ran 1 minute, 43.00 seconds to beat Kenya’s Boaz Lalang by 0.21 seconds.
SOCCER
FFA, Kewell talks fail
Former Leeds and Liverpool forward Harry Kewell will not be returning home to play in Australia’s top flight after talks with the national governing body fell through, his manager said yesterday. Kewell, Australia’s first world-class player, had been courted by Sydney and Melbourne Victory, with Football Federation Australia (FFA) offering to pitch in payments linked to a marketing role for the struggling A-League. However, Kewell’s manager Bernie Mandic said the FFA had baulked at a demand for Kewell to get a slice of gate revenues at away games. “The FFA offered to assist in bringing Harry back to play in Australia and asked what it would cost to use Harry to market and promote the sport in partnership with the FFA,” he told local radio. “It was a 30-70 split of any additional gate revenue from the away games that Harry plays in. If there are no more people coming to the away games that Harry plays in, Harry gets nothing.”
SOCCER
Dalglish adds Keen to staff
Liverpool appointed Kevin Keen as first team coach on Sunday as part of manager Kenny Dalglish’s reorganization of his backroom staff. The arrival of the 44-year-old former West Ham United first team coach comes after assistant manager Sammy Lee’s departure from Anfield by mutual consent on Friday. Keen was caretaker manager at West Ham for their final match of last season following Avram Grant’s sacking after their relegation from the Premier League.
SOCCER
Model in nude pose vow
Paraguayan fans will be keener than ever for their team to land the Copa America after model Larissa Riquelme on Sunday promised to pose nude should they triumph. Paraguay are in Group B with favorites and holders Brazil, as well as Ecuador and Venezuela. The busty Riquelme gave them extra motivation after making her promise, similar to one she also made during the last World Cup, earning her the sobriquet la Novia del Mundial (World Cup girlfriend) in her homeland. “If Paraguay win the Copa America, then I shall pose nude on the pitch,” she said before the match against Ecuador.
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