CYCLING
Degenkolb pulls out of Giro
Germany’s John Degenkolb who sprinted to victory on stage five of the Giro d’Italia pulled out of the race during Monday’s rest day, his Argos team announced. “Before the start, I said that I wanted to finish a race and in particular the Giro, but not at any price. I feel it will be difficult for me to recover,” said the 24-year-old, who was lying in 129th position and 1 hour, 9 minutes and 4 seconds behind Italian race leader Vincenzo Nibali, when he dropped out. “The first week of the Giro was very rigorous and we also had to deal with very difficult weather conditions. It has had an impact on my condition and I simply can’t adapt,” added the speedster who won five stages on last year’s Tour of Spain and claimed fourth spot at the world championships. “I know that I am getting stronger every year and I must put my pride to one side and do what is best for my body. We decided as a team that I will go home, firstly to recover and then to work on our next objectives.” Degenkolb is now hoping to be fit to take part in his first Tour de France, that runs from June 29 to July 21.
CRICKET
Petersen replaces Smith
Alviro Petersen has replaced fellow opening batsman Graeme Smith in South Africa’s squad for next month’s Champions Trophy. Head selector Andrew Hudson says Petersen is “the obvious choice” to come in for former limited-overs captain Smith, who was ruled out of the ODI tournament to have surgery on his injured left ankle. Petersen is currently playing for Somerset in English county cricket and is familiar with local conditions ahead of the Champions Trophy in England and Wales. Petersen is Smith’s regular opening partner in Tests for the Proteas, but has only played 17 one-day internationals, the last of which was in January last year.
BASKETBALL
Longley joins Boomers staff
Luc Longley has become a permanent member of the Australian Boomers coaching staff, working as an assistant to Andrej Lemanis. Longley, a member of three consecutive championship teams with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, was the first Australian to play in the NBA. He also competed at the Olympics for Australia and was a coaching consultant with the national team for last year’s London Olympics. In a Basketball Australia statement yesterday, Longley said the Olympics “was a chance for me to tip my toe in the water and I enjoyed it and the players responded to me pretty well.” Longley said he’d been away from basketball for a while “but I got to the stage where I really missed it and wanted to get back involved, and Andrej has given me that opportunity.”
GOLF
Mom to the rescue
Nicolas Colsaerts had to send out an SOS to his mother on Monday after his clubs and luggage went astray as he made his way to Bulgaria to defend his World Match-Play title. Colsaerts found himself caught up in a strike at Brussels Airport when he checked in for his flight to Varna for the first-ever major golf tournament staged in Bulgaria. The Belgian was due to arrive in Bulgaria late on Monday, but had to arrange for his mother to travel from Paris yesterday with a spare set of clubs and clothing for her son. Colsaerts heads a field of 24 players from 15 countries competing in the 3 million euros (US$3.9 million) event being played on the stunning Thracian Cliffs course laid out along the Black Sea shoreline at Kavarna 60km north of Bulgaria’s third-largest city, Varna.
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