SOCCER
City’s Tevez scores goal
Carlos Tevez scored his first goal in a Manchester City shirt in 10 months when he helped the reserves to a 3-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday. The striker, making his second appearance since returning from his native Argentina last month following a spectacular falling out with the club in September last year, tucked in a right-wing cross in the 50th minute. It was the first time Tevez had been on target in Manchester City colors since an English Premier League game against Stoke City in May last year. He was substituted against Bolton reserves with 20 minutes to go and received a generous ovation as he left the field.
ICE HOCKEY
Crosby cleared for contact
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been cleared for contact and is inching closer to a return, but no timetable has been set for him to rejoin the lineup. Crosby, sidelined by concussion-like symptoms for most of the past 14 months, told reporters after practicing with teammates on Tuesday that he hoped to play soon. “There is no real timetable, but it’s a good step,” Crosby said in a report on the team’s Web site. “I’ve been through this before. Contact is the big step. It’s nice to be symptom free, but it’s not as fulfilling until you get out there. I just want to make sure that I take the right steps here and get back out there soon.” Crosby, 24, was cleared to resume contact after showing no symptoms of his concussion problems for several days, but wants to try and get through more contact drills. The Canadian suffered the initial injury after taking hits to the head in successive games early last year. He missed the second half of that season and the first 20 games of the current campaign before making a stirring return in November last year.
KITESURFING
Pole fights off sharks
Polish kitesurfer Jan Lisewski fought off repeated shark attacks, overcame thirst and exhaustion in a two-day battle of survival on the Red Sea, Polish media reported on Tuesday. The 42-year-old Lisewski had completed two-thirds of a 200km attempt to cross the Red Sea from the Egyptian town of El Gouna to Duba in Saudi Arabia when the wind suddenly stopped, deflating his kite. Faced with rising waves and approaching nightfall, the Gdansk-born Polish kitesurfing champion and instructor sent out his first SOS signal, but it took nearly 40 hours for the Saudi Arabian coastguard to find him. Lisewski — who became the first person to kitesurf across the Baltic Sea last year — survived the ordeal with help of energy drinks, some water, two energy bars and a trusty knife to fight off sharks up to 6m long. “I was stabbing them in the eyes, the nose and gills,” Lisewski told Polish state news agency PAP.
TABLE TENNIS
Hoyama back into Olympics
Brazil’s Hugo Hoyama will compete in his sixth Olympics in London, equaling a Brazilian record. The 42-year-old Hoyama, who earned his spot late on Monday in a qualifying tournament in Rio de Janeiro, will join five-time Olympic sailing medalist Torben Grael as the Brazilians with the most appearances at the Games. Hoyama has never won an Olympic medal, but is a 10-time winner at the Pan American Games since first taking part in 1987. Hoyama said he is “going to London as if it’s my first Olympics.” Hoyama made his Olympic debut in 1992 in Barcelona.
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
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with
A soccer jersey carrying a national map including disputed Western Sahara has become a hot commodity in Morocco after a diplomatic dispute with Algeria. Retailers said RS Berkane jerseys have been flying off the shelves after a Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup match against Algerian club USM Alger was canceled last month over the jerseys. “We are overwhelmed by the influx of messages and requests,” said Brahim Rabii, representative of the official RS Berkane jersey distributor. Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with Morocco in 2021, partly over the issue of Western Sahara. The former Spanish colony is largely controlled by Morocco, but claimed
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just