ICE HOCKEY
Devils re-sign center Zajac
The New Jersey Devils re-signed center Travis Zajac to a long-term deal after he helped the team reach the Stanley Cup Finals last season, the National Hockey League team said on Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the Devils, but media reported it was an eight-year, US$46 million contract. Zajac missed all but 15 games of the 2011-2012 regular season, but returned in time to play a key role in the Devils’ playoff run, scoring 14 points in the team’s 24 post-season games. Zajac, who was selected by the Devils in the first round of the 2004 NHL Draft, missed most of last season with an Achilles injury, but was in stellar form for the post-season. With the Devils facing elimination in the opening round of last year’s playoffs, Zajac scored an overtime goal that forced a decisive seventh game against the Florida Panthers.
CRICKET
Shane Warne faces ban
Australian veteran Shane Warne is facing a new ban for an alleged breach of the spirit of the game in a domestic Twenty20 match, Cricket Australia (CA) said yesterday. The bowling great apologized last week after a foul-mouthed rant against West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels that earned him a ban and a fine in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL). However, in Wednesday night’s semi-final Warne, the official Melbourne Stars skipper, was not listed as captain for the match they lost against Perth Scorchers. Cricket Australia said it had recently sent a memo to BBL teams about the captaincy role. “If a team’s official captain is selected, but not named as captain, this will be considered against the spirit of cricket and may attract a code of behavior charge,” it said. “Warne has been reported for breaching CA’s code of behavior.”
BADMINTON
Salleh to run for president
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Nadzmi Mohd Salleh has confirmed he will run for the top job at the sport’s world governing body at its May elections. Current Badminton World Federation (BWF) president Kang Young-joong of South Korea said last month he would step down from the role in May after eight years at the helm. China head coach Li Yongbo recently declared his support for Nadzmi, while Indonesian Justian Suhandinata has already made clear his intentions to run for the post. Badminton came under fire during the London Olympics in July last year, when four women’s doubles pairs from South Korea, China and Indonesia deliberately played to lose their matches to get a more favorable draw. The BWF disqualified all four pairings and banned them after the farcical scenes raised serious doubts about the game’s future inclusion in future Olympics.
RUGBY UNION
Burger to captain Stormers
Springbok flanker Schalk Burger will captain the Western Stormers in this year’s Super 15 season after recovering from injury, coach Allister Coetzee confirmed on Wednesday. Burger, 29, suffered a knee injury in the opening round of last year’s southern hemisphere provincial championship that kept the forward sidelined all season. Springbok skipper and center Jean de Villiers replaced Burger as leader of the Stormers and now reverts to vice captain as the team seek a first title. The return of 2007 World Cup winner Burger heightens competition for Springbok back-row places, with the Bulls’ Pierre Spies also fit again and ready to challenge incumbents Francois Louw, Willem Alberts and Duane Vermeulen.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but