SOCCER
Trujillo bail agreement set
A Guatemalan judge indicted in a probe of global soccer corruption must wear an electronic monitor and cannot be more than about 80km from the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, as part of a bail agreement set on Thursday by a US magistrate. The bail agreement for Hector Trujillo also set his bond at US$4 million. Trujillo’s attorney said friends and relatives would be putting up cash and real estate properties as security for the bond. Trujillo was general secretary of Guatemala’s soccer federation at the time of his arrest last month. US authorities took him into custody on a cruise ship docked in Florida waters. He was among 16 men charged in an indictment that is part of a broad investigation into FIFA, the international soccer governing body, and he faces charges including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.
MOTOR RACING
McLaren stalwart dies
American Tyler Alexander, who helped Bruce McLaren found the McLaren Formula One team in the 1960s and remained a part of it for more than 40 years, died on Thursday at the age of 75. “Tyler Alexander was one of the first pillars of our company,” McLaren Group head Ron Dennis said in a tribute on the McLaren Web site. “Bruce couldn’t have asked for a sturdier pair of shoulders upon which to help build the team’s reputation. Tyler was one of the finest of the old school: hardy, humble and wise, leaving a reputation and a legacy that will remain indelible in the history of international motorsport.” Raised in Hingham, Massachusetts, Alexander befriended Pennsylvania lawyer Teddy Mayer, who was involved in motorsport with his racing driver brother Timmy, and then met New Zealander McLaren in England.
CRICKET
Younis contract extended
Pakistan on Thursday said that they will keep national team head coach Waqar Younis in place until the end of their England tour later this year. Waqar’s two-year contract expires in May, but Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan said his team management would continue until September. “We have not taken a final decision on the contracts of the team management, but Waqar and other staff will continue until the end of Pakistan’s tour of England,” Khan said. Pakistan play four Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 on the tour which starts on June 29. After two warm-up games the first Test starts at Lord’s from July 14. Waqar took over as head coach in June 2013, and under him Pakistan have lost six of their nine one-day series. They have shown improvement in Tests, however, winning four of their six series, losing one and drawing the other.
SOCCER
Curtis ‘impresses’ Swansea
Alan Curtis will stay in charge of Swansea until the end of the Premier League season after impressing in his role as caretaker manager following the firing of Garry Monk last month. Swansea has collected five points in five games under Curtis, who has kept the Welsh team out of the relegation zone. “We have all been impressed with the way [Curtis] has improved performance levels ... the players have obviously responded to him because we have seen an uplift in performances,” Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins said. Jenkins on Thursday said that finding a replacement for Monk “hasn’t been easy because we didn’t want to make a short-term decision that would be detrimental to the club long-term.” Swansea is 17th in the 20-team Premier League.
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