ICE HOCKEY
Woeful Canucks fire Gillis
The Vancouver Canucks fired president and general manager Mike Gillis on Tuesday, a day after being eliminated from playoff contention. Gillis took over as general manager from the fired Dave Nonis after the 2007-2008 season. Under Gillis, the Canucks made the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, but lost to Boston. Since then, they have been in a steady decline, losing in the first round of the NHL playoffs for two straight seasons before missing the post-season entirely this year for the first time since 2008. Vancouver fans seemed fed up with the team’s downward spiral and chanted for Gillis’ sacking after Monday’s 3-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
soccer
I am not Syria jihadist: Diarra
France international Lassana Diarra on Tuesday denied rumors on social media sites that he has become a jihadist in the Syrian war. The Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder “denies in the most formal, the most categoric, the most absolute fashion that he has gone to Syria,” said Diarra’s French lawyer, Eric Dupond Moretti. “He has never set foot in Syria. It’s absurd. He is not a jihadist, he is a footballer with Lokomotiv Moscow,” the lawyer added. British tabloid the Daily Mirror this week reported social media rumors that Diarra had gone to Syria, where the war is now into a fourth year and has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Moretti said Diarra, 29, who has also played for Real Madrid, Chelsea and Arsenal, expected to take part in Lokomotiv’s Russian Premier League game on Sunday. Diarra won La Liga with Real Madrid in 2012 and last played for France in 2010.
SOCCER
Vegalta, Arnold part ways
J-League side Vegalta Sendai fired Australian manager Graham Arnold after a poor start to the season, they said on Wednesday. Vegalta said on their Web site that the decision to terminate Arnold’s contract after just five months had been taken by “mutual consent.” The 50-year-old was Australia’s assistant coach under Guus Hiddink at the 2006 World Cup and subsequently spent a brief spell in charge of the Socceroos. Sendai have taken just two points from six matches this season and sit second from bottom of the 18-team first division. Arnold blamed the poor results on an aging squad. “Many of the older players were resistant to change,” he told Australian broadcaster SBS. “I felt as if I was coaching someone else’s team and in the end I have my standards to uphold.”
However, his tactics were criticized in some quarters and the team’s defensive flaws were illustrated in Sunday’s 4-0 rout by the Urawa Reds, which was the tipping point for Velgata’s management. Assistant coach Susumu Watanabe will replace Arnold, the club said.
TENNIS
Delbonis bests Simon
Sixth-seeded Federico Delbonis of Argentina beat Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II on Tuesday in Casablanca, Morocco. Simon entered the main draw as a qualifier and struggled on his serve, getting only 45 percent of his first serves in. Delbonis next plays another qualifier, Filip Peliwo, after the Canadian won 7-6 (6), 6-3 against Italy’s Filippo Volandri. In other first-round matches, Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena downed fellow qualifier David Goffin of Belgium 6-2, 7-5; Albert Ramos of Spain won 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 against Moroccan Lamine Ouahab and big-serving Romanian Victor Hanescu advanced by beating wild card Hicham Khaddari of Morocco 7-6 (3), 6-3.
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
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
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a