BASKETBALL
Stoudemire out for weeks
New York Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire will miss two to four weeks while he receives treatment for a bulging disc in his lower back, the National Basketball Association team said on Wednesday. “Doctors have agreed that he should undergo non-surgical treatment and rehabilitation,” the Knicks said in a statement. The treatment will allow the six-time All-Star to return to the lineup before the end of the regular season. The Knicks are in a close battle for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Stoudemire, whose injury was discovered in an examination on Monday, is the Knicks’ second leading scorer and rebounder, with averages of 17.6 points and eight rebounds per game.
BASKETBALL
Glen Davis fined for finger
Orlando Magic forward Glen Davis has been fined US$35,000 for making an obscene gesture in a game this week, the National Basketball Association said on Wednesday. Davis appeared to extend his middle finger toward a fan during Orlando’s 117-101 road win against the Toronto Raptors on Monday after being hit on the head by an opposing player. The hit opened a gash on Davis’s scalp and he was booed by the home fans as he grimaced and checked for blood, according to a report from the Orlando Sentinel. As Davis looked at a fan, he extended his bloodied right middle finger, put it into his mouth and licked off the blood, but he did not intend to make the obscene gesture, he said. “No, I had blood on my hands,” Davis told the paper. “It was my middle finger, so I think they thought I was flipping somebody off, but I wasn’t. I was getting blood off my finger.”
SOCCER
Theme hotel seeks investors
A proposed island theme resort hotel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using the brand of the Real Madrid soccer team is still working to line up investors, the chairman of the development said yesterday. The Spanish club announced plans for the US$1 billion Real Madrid Resort Island project in the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah earlier this month. Ras al-Khaimah is one of seven semi-autonomous city-states that make up the Gulf federation of the UAE. It includes glitzy Dubai and the oil-rich Abu Dhabi. Project chief executive Louis-Armand de Rouge told reporters that a locally based company plans to begin seeking out investors in a “road show” starting next month. De Rouge is CEO of RAK Marjan Island Football Co, which was set up to develop the 50 hectare resort. The firm is controlled by the northern emirate’s government-controlled RAK Investment Authority. Real Madrid and its UAE business partner did not say how much they are each contributing to the project. Plans call for it to include a theme park, a stadium, marina and other attractions on a previously built artificial island off the emirate’s Gulf coast.
OLYMPICS
Aussies dislike Speedos
Most of the Australian swimming team are not happy with the official swimsuit they are expected to compete in at this year’s London Olympics, reports said yesterday. Sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, who have both qualified for London, said dissatisfaction with the Elite Fastskin Pro suit presented to the Olympic team by their official sponsor, Speedo, was so high that many were applying for official exemptions to compete wearing something else, newspapers said. “I think there’s about two people on the team who are happy with the Speedo suit at the moment,” Bronte Campbell told the Sydney Morning Herald.
GOLF
Neumann is Solheim captain
Sweden’s Liselotte Neumann, 45, who has won 27 tournaments worldwide, including the 1988 US Women’s Open, was announced on Wednesday as European captain for the 2013 Solheim Cup. A veteran of six Solheim Cups as a player, Neumann takes over from Britain’s Alison Nicholas, who led the Europeans last year at Killeen Castle in Dunsany, Ireland, where they beat the US 15-13. Neumann, who won the 1994 Women’s British Open before the tournament was recognized as a major, was a member of the triumphant European Solheim Cup team in 1992 and 2000.
SOCCER
Goalkeeper sent home
Sydney FC goalkeeper Liam Reddy has been sent home for drinking alcohol on a flight to New Zealand for an A-League playoff match, the club said yesterday. The club said Reddy had admitted the consumption of alcohol on the flight to the New Zealand capital for the first-round playoff match against Wellington Phoenix. The 30-year-old Reddy will also face charges under the A-League’s code of conduct, which makes it highly unlikely that he will feature in the remainder of the playoffs. Reddy lost his starting spot at Australia’s glamour club after being dropped in favor of teammate Ivan Necevski last month and would more than likely have been on the bench for today’s match.
SOCCER
Spain set up friendlies
Spain will play friendlies against Serbia, South Korea and China as warm-up matches for the June 8 to July 1 European championships. The Spanish team will face Serbia on May 26 and South Korea four days later, both at venues outside Spain, with the June 3 game against China set to take place in Seville, a federation spokesman said. The world champions will then likely gather in a camp at the Austrian Alpine village of Schruns on May 21, two days after the Champions League final. Vicente Del Bosque’s squad will arrive in their Polish base camp of Gniewino on June 5 for their Euro campaign that sees them in the same pool as Italy, Ireland and Croatia, their first game coming against the Italians on June 10.
CRICKET
Proteas prepare for England
South Africa coach Gary Kirsten will now start “preparing, planning and strategizing” for the series away to top-ranked Test nation England, after the Proteas’ successful tour of New Zealand. South Africa won in all formats against the Black Caps. Kirsten said: “We are excited about where we are going” ahead of a three-Test contest in July and August between Test cricket’s top two teams. Captain Graeme Smith added that South Africa would have to adapt to the “big pressures” of touring England in what is likely to be the last trip there for him, and fellow veterans Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher.
SWIMMING
Thorpe returns to the pool
Ian Thorpe has returned to the pool and said yesterday he was looking for a heavy block of training laps as he contemplates his next competition. The five-time Olympic gold medallist missed out on place at a third Olympic Games in London after failing to qualify in the 100m and 200m freestyle at last week’s selection trials in Adelaide. Thorpe, 29, said he planned to continue swimming and has returned to the pool ahead of increased training. While Thorpe has not completely ruled out aiming for the Rio Olympics in 2016, his next target could be next year’s world championships 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
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