BASEBALL
Teixeira out for season
New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira, who has played just 15 games this season due to a wrist injury, will undergo surgery and miss the rest of the year, the injury-hit team said on Wednesday. The 33-year-old Teixeira, a two-time All-Star who sustained the injury while taking batting practice for the US team at the World Baseball Classic, will undergo surgery to repair a tear on the tendon sheath of his wrist. Teixeira hit a meager .151 batting average for the Yankees this season after producing 24 home runs and 84 RBIs for the American League East champions last year. The switch-hitter is just one of a slew of Yankees who have missed substantial time through injury. Captain Derek Jeter has yet to play this season as he recovers from a broken ankle and outfielder Curtis Granderson, who broke his forearm after he was hit by a pitch and missed 38 games, was sidelined shortly after he returned when he was hit by another pitch that broke a finger.
ICE HOCKEY
Bergeron still in hospital
Boston forward Patrice Bergeron was still in hospital on Wednesday night with a punctured lung, two days after the Bruins lost the Stanley Cup final to the Chicago Blackhawks. The 27-year-old Canadian was admitted to a Boston hospital with a host of injuries shortly after the Bruins’ shocking 3-2 loss to Chicago. Bergeron is also receiving treatment for a broken rib, torn cartilage and a separated shoulder he sustained in Game 6 of the NHL championship. Doctors said it was impossible for Bergeron to play with a punctured lung and said it could have resulted from the broken rib or a nerve-blocking injection he received to deaden the pain so he could continue to play. Bergeron was taken to hospital after Game 5 in Chicago because of the torn cartilage, but checked himself out to play the final two games.
SOCCER
Madrid confirm Isco transfer
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on Wednesday said that a deal for Malaga midfielder Isco has already been agreed with the selling club and the player himself. The Spanish under-21 international admitted last week that he had an offer from Madrid and Perez confirmed that he just needs to pass a medical before the deal can be completed. The former Valencia man will become Madrid’s first major signing of the close season, with Real set to pay about 30 million euros (US$39 million) for his services. Isco will also be the first player to arrive in Carlo Ancelotti’s reign as manager after he was presented to the media at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier on Wednesday and Ancelotti hailed his recent performances with winners Spain at the UEFA-Under 21 European Championships in Israel.
BASEBALL
Bird retakes Pacers helm
NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who resigned last year because of health problems, will return to his role as president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers agreed to a multi-year deal with Bird, who resumed his duties of running the team on Wednesday. “We are all very happy to have Larry back,” Pacers owner Herb Simon said. “The year off gave me a chance to reflect, to rest, to take care of some health issues and it recharged me,” said Bird, who was named NBA Executive of the Year last year. Bird, who has three championship rings as a player, has been instrumental in the Pacers’ success since he took over as president a decade ago. His draft picks include Paul George and Lance Stephenson, and he acquired the draft rights to center Roy Hibbert in 2008.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later