BASEBALL
Braves pitcher banned
Atlanta Braves pitcher Andrew McKirahan has been handed an 80-game ban for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy. McKirahan, who is in his first season in the majors, tested positive for Ipamorelin, a performance-enhancing substance. The 25-year-old left-handed pitcher’s suspension starts immediately. Unlike certain other players, who were suspended earlier this month, McKirahan is accepting his ban without any excuses and is asking fans for forgiveness. “This is in no way a reflection of my character or morals,” he said. “I will work hard during my suspension and pray that everyone will find it in their hearts to forgive me.” McKirahan, who was claimed off waivers from the Florida Marlins in early April, also apologized to the Braves. “I am extremely sorry for letting down the Atlanta Braves organization, my coaches, teammates and the Braves fans,” McKirahan said in a statement released by the players union. “I hope to have the privilege and opportunity to return to the Atlanta Braves later this season, to earn back their trust and to do everything possible to contribute to the success of the organization.” McKirahan has appeared in three games for the Braves. He has allowed two runs in 4-1/3 innings. He had never pitched above Double-A baseball prior to this season.
FOOTBALL
Tebow signs with Eagles
Tim Tebow, who has not played in the National Football League for more than two years, signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL team announced on Monday. No details of the contract were released. With the start of the NFL regular season still more than four months away, Tebow becomes one of five quarterbacks on the Eagles’ roster, joining Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley and G.J. Kinne. The 27-year-old Tebow worked out with the Eagles last month. He joined the team for off-season workouts this week. The former Heisman Trophy winner, as the top US college player, has started just 16 career NFL games. He has been working as a television analyst while trying to land a job with a team. Tebow played two seasons for the Denver Broncos in 2010 and 2011 and last appeared in the NFL for the New York Jets in 2012.
ICE HOCKEY
Sharks coach resigns
Todd McLellan stepped down as head coach of the San Jose Sharks on Monday, a week after the National Hockey League club failed to make the playoffs. McLellan, who leads the organization in games coached with 514, had been with the Sharks for seven seasons. The announcement was made after the team failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2003. The Sharks completed the 2014-2015 season with a 40-33-9 record, which was only good enough for fifth place in the Pacific Division.
BASKETBALL
Raptors guard wins award
Toronto Raptors guard Lou Williams was named winner of the National Basketball Association’s award for best player in a reserve role, the league said on Monday. Williams, playing in his 10th NBA season and first with the Raptors, won the Sixth Man Award after averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game in helping Toronto win a franchise-record 49 games during the 2014-2015 campaign. The 28-year-old guard, who was coming off one of his worst seasons, came off the bench in all 80 of his appearances and averaged 25.2 minutes. He led or tied for the Raptors in scoring 18 times, second most in the league for a reserve.
GERMANY
Frontzek gets Hannover job
Michael Frontzek will be responsible for trying to keep Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga after he was named coach following the sacking of Tayfun Korkut on Monday. Frontzek, who was Hannover assistant coach in 2004-2005, takes over a demoralized side coming off a 4-0 humbling by Bayer 04 Leverkusen which extended their winless run to 13 matches. They are just two points above third-from-bottom SC Paderborn 07, who presently occupy the place which would see them contest a relegation playoff, and three ahead of second-from-bottom VfB Stuttgart. The former Germany international defender, a member of the Euro 92 squad which ended up losing to Denmark in the final, signed a five-match contract, with his first challenge coming against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday. “Michael Frontzek has our full confidence in achieving the goal of retaining our Bundesliga status,” Hannover 96 owner Martin Kind said.
SPAIN
Elche edge Real Sociedad
Jonathas took advantage of a defensive blunder to score in the first half, giving Elche a 1-0 home win against Real Sociedad in La Liga on Monday. Poor control and hesitation by Sociedad midfielder Markel Bergara allowed Jonathas to steal the ball, before racing away unchallenged to score his 10th goal of the season by beating Argentine goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli in the 18th minute. The win means Elche pull away from the relegation zone and are 14th in the standings on 34 points after 32 rounds, while Sociedad are two places above on 38 points. Barcelona lead the league on 78 points, two more than second-placed Real Madrid.
SAUDI ARABIA
Al-Shamrani ban reduced
Nasser al-Shamrani has had his ban for spitting at and head-butting Western Sydney Wanderers defender Matthew Spiranovic after the Asian Champions League final reduced on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The prolific al-Hilal Saudi striker was handed an eight-match ban by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the incident, which happened in November last year after his club were beaten by the Australian side 1-0 over the two legs of the final. CAS stayed the punishment last month and late on Monday reduced the ban to two matches for the head-butt and four matches for the spitting offense, with a further two-match ban suspended for a probationary period of two years. The original ban, six for the spitting and two for the head-butt, was the minimum al-Shamrani could have received for the offenses. The AFC had attempted to delay the announcement of their initial verdict to avoid embarrassment when they presented al-Shamrani with their Player of the Year award, only for the news to leak out. An appeal to the AFC failed, but the regional body allowed him to compete in the Asian Cup with Saudi Arabia in January after restricting the ban to just Asian Champions League matches.
BRAZIL
Drug link to shootings
Police said a dispute over drug dealing could have led to a raid on a fan club where eight men were killed. Sao Paulo detective Luiz Fernando Teixeira said authorities have identified two suspects who are yet to be detained. He said on Monday that one of the victims in Saturday’s shooting at Corinthians fan club Pavilhao 9 was presumed to be involved with drug trafficking and likely the main target. Witnesses say that three gunmen stormed into the site and shot seven people in the head. An eighth man ran to a gas station after being shot, but he died later.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier