SOCCER
Sevilla win third straight
Sevilla scored three second-half goals to beat RCD Mallorca 3-1 on Monday, recording a third straight victory to move within reach of the European places in the Spanish league. Goals from Alvaro Negredo, Manu del Moral and Jesus Navas put Sevilla one point behind sixth-placed CA Osasuna, which is in the last Europa League place. Negredo scored in the 51st minute from Navas’ corner and Del Moral doubled the lead at Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in the 62nd with a well-placed shot inside the far post. Sevilla winger Jose Antonio Reyes sliced a pass through the defense to meet Navas’ run into the area and the Spain forward tapped the ball into the net in the 68th. Mallorca substitute Tomer Hemed scored a consolation goal in the 78th.
MOTOR SPORT
Yacht exam trips Pedrosa
Spanish MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa, 26, is in trouble with the local police after being taken in for questioning about cheating in an examination for a captain’s recreational yachting license. Pedrosa was one of a group of people arrested after being surprised during the exam at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia on Saturday, Spanish media reported. A local government official said some students had been wired up with earpieces to receive the answers to the exams and that 21 people had been detained in the operation. “After taking bad advice I have committed an error,” the Honda rider said in a statement released through his lawyers on Monday. “You can ignore or learn from mistakes and I have learned from this. I want to apologize to all my followers. Now I want to look forward. I am a motorbike rider, the world championship begins this weekend in Qatar and I want to focus exclusively on Sunday’s race.”
BASEBALL
Giants re-sign Matt Cain
The San Francisco Giants, whose prized rotation helped them win the 2010 World Series, moved to keep starter Matt Cain in the fold by reaching an agreement with the right-hander on a five-year extension, the MLB team said on Monday. The contract, which will keep the 27-year-old with the Giants through 2017, is believed to be worth US$112.5 million, according to a report on MLB’s Web site. Cain, a two-time All Star and the longest-tenured Giant, was 12-11 last season with a 2.88 earned run average and has made at least 30 starts in each of the last six seasons. He went 2-0 without yielding an earned run in 21-1/3 innings in three post season starts in San Francisco’s 2010 title run.
BASKETBALL
Hall of Famers announced
Reggie Miller, who played his entire 17-year career with the Indiana Pacers, was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday. Miller is the Pacers all-time leading scorer and a five-time NBA All Star. Also named to the Hall of Fame on Monday were former NBA players Ralph Sampson, Jamaal Wilkes and ex-player and NBA coach Don Nelson. Miller finished as Indiana’s all-time leader with 25,279 points. He recorded the most three-pointers made (320) in NBA playoff history. Nelson, who has been a player, coach and general manager, is one of just two coaches to earn NBA Coach of the Year honors three times. He has more than 1,300 NBA coaching victories and captured five titles as a player with the Boston Celtics. Wilkes won four NBA titles with Golden State and the Los Angeles Lakers, while Sampson was rookie of the year in 1984 and made the All-Star team the next year. Induction ceremonies will take place in September.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set