ICE HOCKEY
Sedin scores 300th
Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin scored his 300th career goal and added an assist to help the Canucks defeat Ottawa 5-2 on Thursday. In the day’s other game, Edmonton downed Nashville 3-0. Vancouver also got goals from David Booth, Jason Garrison, Dale Weise and Mike Santorelli. Clarke MacArthur and Mika Zibanejad scored for the Senators, who have yet to win in five occasions this season of playing on back-to-back nights. Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall scored 51 seconds apart in the second period to send the Oilers past Nashville. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov got a shutout in his first start for Edmonton, making 33 saves, while Jordan Eberle added an empty-netter in the final minute. Predators captain Shea Weber was hit by a puck near his mouth in the second period and did not return.
SOCCER
No win, no car keys
Hungarian soccer champions Gyori ETO found an original way to punish their players after an embarrassing defeat, by confiscating the keys to their high-end cars, a media report said on Thursday. The management of the club, who took their fourth Hungarian league title last season, struck back after the team went down 3-0 last weekend against bottom-of-the-league side Mezokovesd-Zsory SE, the news portal kisalfold.hu reported. Gyori ETO slipped to sixth in the league table after the game. The players now see themselves deprived of the use of their Audi cars, which they received for free. The club declined to say when the keys would be returned to the players.
SOCCER
Lazio fans arrested
Polish police on Thursday arrested a large group of Lazio supporters prior to a Europa League game between the Italian side and Legia Warsaw, an Agence France-Presse journalist at the scene said. “Stones were thrown at police who were escorting the supporters toward the stadium,” a police spokesman said. Police then used force to arrest the supporters, numbering several dozen, with about 30 police vans involved in the operation. The trouble came after 17 Lazio fans were arrested following a fight outside a hotel in the Polish capital on Wednesday evening.
CRICKET
Pattinson to return
Australia paceman James Pattinson is to make a tentative return to competitive cricket when he lines up for Melbourne club Dandenong this weekend, raising his hopes of taking part in the Ashes after being sidelined with a back injury. The 23-year-old suffered a stress fracture in his back that ruled him out of most of the northern Ashes series, but has targeted being fit for the third Test in Perth starting on Dec. 13.
RUGBY UNION
Eddie Jones meets reporters
Japan national rugby coach Eddie Jones made his first public appearance yesterday since suffering a stroke last month. The 53-year-old Jones was hospitalized on Oct. 15 after complaining of a severe headache while checking a training camp site. He was released from hospital on Saturday last week. Jones met with reporters at the Japan Rugby Football Union headquarters, saying: “I am at about 98 percent now.” Jones, who coached Australia to the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, has been set the challenging task of improving Japanese rugby as the country prepares to host the 2019 World Cup. Japan is currently 14th in the world rankings and Jones yesterday said he wants his team to crack the top 10 within two years.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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