CRICKET
Chanderpaul retires
West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has retired from international cricket after scoring more than 20,000 runs in three forms of the game across 22 years. The West Indies Cricket Board yesterday said that the 41-year-old left-hander informed it by e-mail that he is no longer available for selection for the national team. His last appearance for the West Indies was against England in Barbados in May last year. Nicknamed “Tiger” and known for his durability and unorthodox style, Chanderpaul played 164 Test matches and is seventh in the all-time list of Test run scorers with 11,867. He hit 30 centuries at an average of 51.37. Board president Dave Cameron said Chanderpaul made an “invaluable contribution” to the global game.
OLYMPICS
Pregnant shooter to miss Rio
Malaysian shooter Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi, who competed at the London Olympics while more than seven months pregnant, has missed out on a place at the Rio de Janeiro Games this year as she is expecting her second child. The 33-year-old was due to take part in the Asian Olympics Qualifying Championships in New Delhi on Tuesday — her last chance to book a spot in Brazil — but was told not to travel to India by her doctor, the Malaysian Star reported yesterday. Suryani became one of the stories of the 2012 London Olympics when she came 34th in the 10m air rifle while heavily pregnant.
SOCCER
Player fined over tweet
Al-Jazira midfielder Thiago Neves became the first player to be punished by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for a social media rant after the Brazilian posted a tweet about a referee. The 30-year-old was fined US$25,000 and handed a suspended one-match ban for his Twitter post following the Oct. 20 AFC Champions League semi-final between victors Emiratis Al-Ahli and his former club Al-Hilal, who he left in July last year. “If Thiago Neves is found in breach of the AFC Disciplinary Code in the next two years, the suspension is automatically revoked and the sanction applied,” the AFC said in a statement on Friday. “A repeat violation will also lead to a more severe punishment.”
RUGBY LEAGUE
Burgess hailed a hero
Sam Burgess yesterday was hailed a hero in Australia after he reportedly helped a man choking on a piece of seafood. Burgess, who quit English Premiership rugby union side Bath last year to return to rugby league’s South Sydney Rabbitohs, was with teammates at the Sydney Fish Market on Friday when he sprang into action. The players were taking part in a fish-eating challenge when a man joined in and began to choke, a witness, who asked not to be named, told foxsports.com.au. “Some seafood got caught in his throat and he started choking. Sam raced straight over and grabbed him and started putting his body weight on him to try and get it out.” The man was eventually able to swallow the tricky morsel, but the witness said: “If Sam hadn’t helped it could have been bad. I’m telling you, Sam is a hero.”
SOCCER
Lloyd, Hernandez honored
US midfielder Carli Lloyd and Mexico forward Javier Hernandez on Friday were named CONCACAF’s Players of the Year. Lloyd scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final, where she earned the Golden Ball as top player. Hernandez scored the first goal for Mexico in their playoff win over the US for a berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup.
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
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two