BASEBALL
Rule changes announced
MLB has made several minor rule changes for this season, including one that covers tag plays when a runner is touched only by the laces of a fielder’s glove. The tweaks were announced on Friday in an 11-minute video produced by MLB. The video showed a play in which Houston second baseman Jose Altuve touched a sliding runner with the hanging laces from his glove. In the past, that was called an out; now, that will not be enough to count as a tag. That kind of play drew attention when it was seen on slow-motion replays during umpire reviews. The Playing Rules Committee discussed all of the changes, which were approved by owners, umpires and the players’ union. Also, the top-to-bottom length of a first baseman’s mitt and a fielder’s glove was increased by an inch to 13 inches.
SOCCER
Saudi club punished
Asia’s soccer body has ordered Saudi club Al Ittihad to play its next Asian Football Confederation (AFC) home match behind closed doors, without any spectators, as a result of fan misbehavior. In its latest list of decisions released on Friday, the AFC’s Disciplinary Committee said the club’s supporters had thrown bottles at the field on several occasions, with one of them hitting a player from Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv club on March 1. The soccer body also suspended Amer Sharifi, a player from Jordan’s Al Wehdat club, for six AFC Cup matches “for offensive behavior and insulting gestures at the referee,” during a match against Lebanon’s Ahed FC. The player was also fined US$10,000 and warned that a repeat violation would result in more severe punishment.
FIGURE SKATING
Fernandez retains title
Spain’s Javier Fernandez produced a spectacular free skate to overhaul Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu and retain his men’s title at the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston on Friday. Fernandez, who was second behind Japan’s Hanyu after the short program, was near flawless in the free skate on the way to a score of 216.41 points, skyrocketing his total to 314.93 and a clear victory. “Emotion is everything,” Fernandez said. “To repeat, a second title in a world championship is something not easy and these past months have been tough sometimes with some injuries and some pains. So to be able to perform today and perform good in front of everybody... it was unbelievable.” Hanyu took silver with 295.17 points and Chinese teenager Jin Boyang won bronze on 270.99.
GOLF
Woods out for Masters
Former world No. 1 Tiger Woods on Friday confirmed that he will not participate in next week’s 80th Masters, saying his rehabilitation from back surgery has not progressed far enough to allow him to compete. The 14-time major champion, a four-time Masters winner, has not played a PGA event since August last year. Since then, he underwent back surgery and a follow-up procedure to ease discomfort from a pinched nerve. “I’ve been dedicated to my rehab and improving daily, but I’m not physically ready to compete in the Masters,” Woods posted on his Twitter account. There had been a bit of mystery about Woods’ status for the year’s first major tournament, as Woods had not updated the status of his rehabilitation for several weeks. He had said there was no timetable for his return. “After assessing the present condition of my back, and consulting with my medical team, I’ve decided it’s prudent to miss this year’s Masters,” Woods said in a posting on his Web site.
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
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