SOCCER
Villa, Cuenca back for Barca
Barcelona had positive news on the injury front on Monday when David Villa returned to training and fellow forward Isaac Cuenca was declared fit after more than seven months out with a knee injury. Spain striker Villa has struggled to hold down a regular place in the side this season after breaking his leg at the Club World Cup at the end of 2011 and has been out for several weeks with a muscle strain. Cuenca, a Spain Under-21 international who broke into the side under previous manager Pep Guardiola, had surgery on the cartilage in his right knee at the end of May last year. With the two players back in action, all 25 members of Barca’s first-team squad trained together for the first time this season, the club said in a statement on their Web site. The Catalan club suffered their first La Liga defeat of the campaign to Real Sociedad on Saturday and face a stiff task in their next match, a Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg against Malaga tomorrow.
SOCCER
Ballardini returns to Genoa
Davide Ballardini has returned for his second stint as Geno manager of Genoa in less than two years, the struggling Serie A club said on Monday. Ballardini, previously in charge between November 2010 and June 2011, replaced Luigi Del Neri to become Genoa’s third manager of the season. Del Neri, fired after Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat by Catania, had been at the helm for only three months as he continued the succession of hirings and firings by volatile club president Enrico Preziosi. Preziosi has employed 10 managers since he took over the club in 2003, five of them on two occasions. Genoa, 18th in the 20-team Serie A table, are stuck in the relegation zone with 17 points from 21 games. Ballardini, 49, had four months as Cagliari manager last season.
BASKETBALL
NBA to review Kings sale
The NBA will review the agreement for the sale of the Sacramento Kings to an investor group that reportedly plans to relocate the club to Seattle, Washington. The NBA on Monday confirmed that the Kings’ owners, the Maloof brothers, have reached a deal with a group headed by Christopher Hansen, although the league did not address multiple reports saying that the new owners would move the club. “The NBA received an executed Purchase and Sale Agreement for the transfer of a controlling interest in the Sacramento Kings from the Maloof family to an investor group led by Christopher Hansen,” the NBA said in a statement. “The proposed transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA Board of Governors and has been referred to the Board’s committee process for review.” Seattle has been without an NBA team since the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City following the 2007 and 2008 campaign. They are now called the Oklahoma City Thunder.
CRICKET
Clarke likely to miss game
Australian captain Michael Clarke is a serious doubt for today’s final one-day international against Sri Lanka after twisting his ankle. He was undergoing treatment and an assessment of his fitness was to be made later yesterday, Cricket Australia said. Sri Lanka lead the five-match series 2-1 after the fourth leg was washed out on Sunday. The tourists were chasing 223 runs to take the series after thrashing Australia in the second and third games. They needed 209 more runs off 46.4 overs with all their wickets intact when the umpires took the players off the Sydney Cricket Ground. Australia scored 222 for nine off their 50 overs.
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