SOCCER
Guardiola charged over ribbon
The English Football Association has charged Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for promoting a political message by wearing a ribbon in support of imprisoned and ousted pro-independence Catalan politicians. Guardiola was born in Catalonia and is revered in the region because of his links with Barcelona’s soccer team, as both a player and coach. Guardiola has been wearing the yellow ribbon at matches and news conferences since Catalonia’s failed secession bid in October last year when a banned independence referendum was held. The association said the ribbon is a “political message” which requires him to be charged with being in breach of uniform and advertising regulations.
TENNIS
Bouchard reaches settlement
Eugenie Bouchard said she feels relieved and happy about a settlement in her liability lawsuit against the US Tennis Association. The Canadian tennis player made the remark to reporters on Friday after the deal on damages was struck at a New York City court. It came a day after a jury found the association mostly liable for when Bouchard slipped on a wet locker room floor at the 2015 US Open and hit the back of her head. Bouchard claimed she suffered what she said was a “serious head injury” that has harmed a once-promising career. Lawyers met for several hours before reaching the settlement. They declined to disclose the terms.
TENNIS
Top-seed Thiem out of Rio
Top-seeded defending champion Dominic Thiem of Austria on Friday tumbled out of the Rio Open in Brazil, falling 6-4, 6-0 to Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals of the clay-court event. Thiem won the Argentina Open on Sunday last week for his ninth career title. Verdasco was yesterday to play fifth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, who was victorious over Alijaz Bedene of Slovenia. Bedene lost to Thiem in the Argentina Open final. In the other semi-final at Jockey Club Brasileiro, sixth-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina was to face Chile’s Nicolas Jarry. Schwartzman beat France’s Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4, and Jarry topped Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 7-5, 6-3.
OLYMPICS
Sergeyeva fails drugs test
Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeyeva has been banned from the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea after failing a doping test, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said yesterday. The court said that she had tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine and had admitted the offense, the fourth doping case to hit this year’s Games. Sergeyeva, who finished 12th in the two-woman bobsleigh, “is excluded from the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018,” the court said in a statement.
BASKETBALL
Butler out with injury
Minnesota All-Star Jimmy Butler on Friday left the Timberwolves’ game against the Houston Rockets with an apparent injury to his right knee. After grabbing a rebound late in the third quarter, Butler pivoted and planted hard on his right foot before collapsing and grabbing his right knee. He was on the floor for at least three minutes before he was carried off the court by two teammates. He appeared to avoid putting weight on his right leg when heading to the locker room. Butler leads the Timberwolves with 22.4 points and 1.9 steals per game, adding 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in his first season with Minnesota after being traded from Chicago in the off-season.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care