ICE HOCKEY
NHL loses two more weeks
The National Hockey League canceled another two weeks of the regular season on Friday and scrapped next year’s All-Star weekend in Columbus because of a lockout that threatens the entire season. The decision wipes out games through Dec. 14 and brings the total number of lost regular season games to 422, or 34.3 percent of the 2012-2013 season. The regular season was originally scheduled to begin on Oct. 11, but the NHL locked out players in mid-September when the previous labor agreement expired with the two sides at odds over how to split US$3.3 billion in revenue.
RUGBY UNION
Thomson’s ban doubles
All Blacks forward Adam Thomson has had his one-week ban for trampling on the head of Scotland’s Alasdair Strokosch doubled to two weeks following an appeal by the International Rugby Board. A copy of the decision, released yesterday by the New Zealand Rugby Union, said Thomson’s suspension had been extended to today. When Thomson was initially cited for standing on Strokosch’s head in the All Blacks’ Test against Scotland on Nov. 11, he was given a two-week ban, reduced to one week because of his blemish-free record. However, the IRB lodged an appeal after reviewing the original punishment, believing it was “unduly lenient.” Thomson has already effectively served the ban, after not being considered for last week’s Test against Italy and this weekend’s clash with Wales, and will be available for selection to play England in London next week.
TENNIS
Top coach gets jail for rape
A French court on Friday convicted a top French tennis coach of raping two under-aged girls he was training more than 20 years ago and sentenced him to eight years in prison. Regis de Camaret ran a tennis training camp at the plush Mediterranean resort of Saint Tropez in the 1980s and early 1990s, and counted former Wimbledon runner-up Nathalie Tauziat and former French national champion Isabelle Demongeot among his pupils. The court also banned Camaret, 70, from any professional activity connected with tennis. Demongeot was among those who filed complaints against Camaret. She told the court she had been raped for nine years between 1980 and 1989, when she was in her middle to late teens.
SOCCER
Fortuna claim first win
Promoted Fortuna Duesseldorf claimed their first win at home in the Bundesliga this season with a scrappy 2-0 victory over Hamburg SV on Friday. “We didn’t count the years, but to win in front of such a crowd is worth its weight in gold,” Fortuna defender Jens Langeneke said. It was Duesseldorf’s first win in eight games and the club’s first win at home in the top flight since a 2-0 victory over St Pauli on April 4, 1997. Australia forward Robbie Kruse opened the scoring on a counterattack in first-half injury-time when his shot was deflected inside the left post by the retreating Michael Mancienne. Stefan Reisinger made it 2-0 in 64th, six minutes after coming on as a substitute, when he easily beat three Hamburg defenders in turn before rifling a shot to the top corner. Hamburg was dealt a blow in the 32nd, when Rafael van der Vaart was forced off with a suspected hamstring tear. The visitors had two goals ruled out. Kickoff had been delayed a few minutes after flares in the Hamburg fans’ block set banners on fire, resulting in smoke wafting over the pitch.
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