SWIMMING
Australia faces health scare
Swimming Australia has canceled its last warmup meet before the London Olympics after a water polo coach and two players who train at the venue were diagnosed with whooping cough. Swimming Australia said it called off a relay camp and the meet at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), due to start tomorrow, as a precaution after the women’s water polo team was placed in isolation in Canberra. Olympic swimmers have been advised to continue training in their home cities until leaving to fine-tune in Europe. Swimming Australia head coach Leigh Nugent said he had spoken with AIS officials and, “while we are comfortable with the procedures they have put in place, we have decided to take this precaution.” The cancelation was a setback for the strong Australian squad as it removed a good chance for competitive racing ahead of the London Games. The AIS said in a statement it was treating the whooping cough outbreak “very seriously” and would continue to work closely with the institute’s own health professionals and the provincial health authorities to reduce any potential risk.
GOLF
Casey returns to BMW
After injury forced him out of the US Open last week, Paul Casey returns to play in the BMW International Open in Cologne, Germany, determined to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team. The Englishman could not compete in San Francisco because of continuing problems since dislocating his right shoulder in a snow-boarding mishap in January. It was only the third major Casey has missed since playing his first at the British Open in 2002. Casey says “this week really now is the start of my season.” Casey is 60th in the world rankings and 30th on the European Ryder Cup points table. He was a member of the winning teams in 2004 and 2006, but lost in 2008 and missed out in 2010 with Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald preferred as wild cards.
TENNIS
Clijsters makes quarters
Kim Clijsters advanced to the UNICEF Open quarter-finals with an easy 6-2, 6-1 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine on Tuesday. The win on grass a week ahead of Wimbledon was just Clijster’s second since returning from a three-month hip injury. She lost the opening set to Romina Oprandi on Sunday and struggled in the second before taking control of that match. “Bondarenko’s playing style suits me a lot better,” she said. Clijsters played more aggressively and saved the only break point she faced. Among the men, top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain beat Pierre-Ludovic Duclos of Canada 6-4, 6-4 in a first-round match.
CRICKET
Vettori throws hat back in
Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori wants to return to the short form of the game at this year’s International Cricket Council World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka, officials said yesterday. The 33-year-old spinner announced last year that he was taking an indefinite break from one-dayers and Twenty20 cricket to concentrate on his Test career after representing New Zealand in all forms of the game since 1997. However, New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said Vettori, the world’s top-ranked Twenty20 bowler in 2009, had declared himself available for the September-October tournament. “[He] is widely regarded as one of the best Twenty20 exponents in world cricket,” White said.
BASKETBALL
Cuba national players defect
Five members of Cuba’s national team defected on Tuesday in Puerto Rico, where their team were playing in a regional tournament, an official with the FIBA said. The five played on Monday against the Bahamas, who beat Cuba 81-68 on the opening night of the CentroBasket 2012 tournament. “After the game they went to their hotel. Today it was discovered that the five players weren’t there,” said Anibal Garcia, the sports director of FIBA Americas. He said the players apparently checked out of their hotel at about 1am on Tuesday. The Puerto Rican daily El Nuevo Dia, in its online edition, said the five had begun the process of obtaining permission to stay on the island, although their whereabouts was not immediately known. FIBA Americas identified the five players as Juan Carlo Pineiro, Ismael Romero Fernandez, Leonel Batista Aguero, Yudniel Perez Arango and Enrique Ramos Abad.
OLYMPICS
NZOC okays Marina Erakovic
The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) stretched its own rules to approve the selection of tennis player Marina Erakovic for the London Games. The NZOC requires New Zealand athletes selected for an Olympics to have strong likelihood of finishing in the top 16 in their events. Erakovic is ranked No. 45 in the world and now takes her place in the 64-strong draw for the women’s Olympic tournament. Secretary-general Kereyn Smith said the NZOC “makes no apologies” for delaying its decision on Erakovic’s selection. She said the committee had taken into account Erakovic had twice beaten top-16 players this season and had reached the last 16 in four tennis tournaments this year.
RUGBY UNION
Beale back with Wallabies
Fullback Kurtley Beale returns to the Wallabies lineup for the first time since last year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia’s team to play Wales in the third Test on Saturday. Utility back Mike Harris, who came on to kick the winning penalty after the final siren in the second Test, was omitted from the squad announced on Tuesday, along with winger Cooper Vuna, who evaded suspension for a dangerous tackle on Wales fullback Leigh Halfpenny. Beale has been recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in last month’s Super Rugby match between the Melbourne Rebels and the Hurricanes. Australia clinched the series against Six Nations champions Wales with a 25-23 win in Melbourne on Saturday, after claiming the opening match in Brisbane 27-19.
CRICKET
Misbah suspended for Test
Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was suspended from the first Test against Sri Lanka because of a “serious over-rate offense” during the fifth and final one-day international, which the hosts won, the ICC said on Tuesday. The Pakistan side were ruled to be three overs short of their target at the end of the match when time allowances were taken into consideration, the ICC said in a statement. It was Pakistan’s “first serious over-rate offense in the past 12 months,” match referee Chris Broad said as he handed Misbah two suspension points, while each of his players received a 40 percent fine from their match fees. It said the charge against Pakistan was laid by on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and the home country umpire Ranmore Martinesz as well as third umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge and fourth umpire Nilan de Silva. “Misbah pleaded guilty to the charge and the subsequent penalties were accepted without the need for a formal hearing,” the statement added.
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