■ Baseball
Marines crush Blue Wave
South Korean slugger Lee Seung-yeop connected for his first homer in Japan Friday as the Lotte Marines cruised to a 12-2 victory over the Orix BlueWave in a preseason exhibition game. Lee, who broke the Asian single-season home run record with 56 homers last season for the Samsung Lions, hit a solo homer in the second inning at Yahoo BB Stadium as the Marines took a 5-0 lead. Kazuya Fukuura, Koichi Hori and Masaumi Shimizu also homered for the Marines. Lotte starter Tomohiro Kuroki, looking to make a comeback after several injury-plagued seasons, picked up the win after giving up two runs on three hits over three innings. At Nagoya Dome, Masahiko Morino belted a two-run homer in the seventh inning to power the Chunichi Dragons to a 4-0 victory over the Seibu Lions.
■ Soccer
Maradona blasts agent
Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona has accused his longtime agent of mismanaging his finances, saying in a television interview he was "betrayed" by his former associate. "Some of my money is missing," Maradona told news talkshow El Diario de la Tarde on Wednesday, accusing former manager Guillermo Coppola of mishandling his funds. "He was the only one in charge of my things," Maradona said. "Coppola betrayed me. There is no other way around it." Coppola did not immediately respond to the accusations. The comments by the former Argentine captain marked another turbulent twist in the nearly 20-year relationship between Maradona and his former manager, who for years were practically inseparable. Maradona said he has yet to account for hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties and other fees, some of it proceeds from a 2001 farewell match played in Buenos Aires.
■ Soccer
Man Utd eyes bigger stadium
Manchester United already has the biggest stadium in England. Now it wants to increase Old Trafford's seating capacity from 67,500 to 75,000 -- twice that of most clubs in the Premier League. United told the London Stock Exchange yesterday it had launched a feasibility study into the cost of filling in the two corners of the ground at the North Stand side, opposite the managers' dugouts. "Any decision to proceed will be taken by the board in due course and announced thereafter," the statement said. United has sold out every league match since Old Trafford's capacity was increased from 55,000 to 67,500 four years ago. News reports said the extra seats could generate more than ?400,000 (US$724,000) a year.
■ Rugby Union
Player steals taxi cab
The ACT Rugby Union yesterday barred Henari Veratau from the Brumbies' tour to South Africa after he was charged by police with stealing a cab in Canberra, the union said. Veratau, a 20-year-old winger or center, was being held in the Canberra watch house yesterday until he appeared before magistrates court today. It is alleged a 38-year-old taxi driver was dragged from his seat after an argument over a fare early yesterday and had his cab stolen. ACT Rugby Union CEO Rob Clarke said his organization was cooperating with police and the union would conduct a separate internal investigation. "We've been in touch with the police and we'll do what we can to assist them with their investigation," he said. "We've also opened a separate internal investigation into the matter." Clarke said the allegations and charges were extremely disappointing.
■ Rugby League
New scandal erupts
A second top Australian rugby league side was implicated yesterday in the scandal which has engulfed Sydney's Canterbury Bulldogs, as the Melbourne Storm club admitted two of its players were under investigation for alleged rape. A spokesman for the Storm confirmed a report in yesterday's Herald Sun newspaper that police had questioned two unnamed players about the alleged rape of a young woman in a suburban Melbourne apartment on Feb. 8. However, Melbourne Storm executive director John Ribot defended a delay in notifying the National Rugby League about the investigation. He said the two players admitted they were with the woman and, as far as he knew, "relations" had taken place, but the club had conducted its own inquiry and decided the players were not guilty.
■ Motor Racing
Election held on race day
National elections will be held on the same day as the Malaysian Grand Prix, but officials promised that neither would interfere with the other. Organizers yesterday predicted that the election might cause crowd numbers to be down slightly on race day, March 21, but otherwise the election will have no effect. "The race will go on," said Azhar Ghazali, a spokesman for the Sepang International Circuit where the race is held. "We hope to see both the elections and the race proceed smoothly, because both are of national interest." Election officials, who announced the polling date yesterday, urged Malaysian Formula One fans not to neglect their democratic responsibilities by shirking voting to watch the race.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Shahzad Khan was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
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