■ Basketball
Cavaliers fire Jim Paxson
Jim Paxson was fired Thursday as general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose stunning second-half collapse this season cost them their first trip to the National Basketball Association playoffs in seven years. Paxson's dismissal has been expected for weeks and came exactly one month after Paul Silas was fired as coach by owner Dan Gilbert, who has had a tumultuous first 50 days running the franchise. The Cavaliers were 31-21 on Feb. 25, and 34-30 when Silas was fired. But the team fell apart down the stretch.
■ Hockey
Demitra decides to play
Pavol Demitra has decided to play for Slovakia at the ice hockey world championships. The NHL forward initially said he would skip the April 30-May 15 tournament to stay home with his wife, who is expecting twins and has been hospitalized. But on Thursday, Demitra told TV Markiza in Bratislava, Slovakia that he has changed his mind after discussing the matter with doctors and his family. Slovakia, which won the title in 2002, is also expected to have Marian Hossa of Ottawa, Zigmund Palffy and Jozef Stumpel of Los Angeles and Miroslav Satan of Buffalo.
■ Boxing
Title fights scheduled
WBA super featherweight champion Yodsanan Nanthachai of Thailand and IBF junior bantamweight champ Luis Perez of Nicaragua will defend their titles on April 30 at Madison Square Garden. The bouts will be on the undercard of WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz's defense against James Toney. Yodsanan (44-2-1, 36 knockouts) will fight Vicente Mosquera of Panama in a mandatory bout. Yodsanan has held the belt since 2002 and has not lost since 1994, winning 37 straight. Mosquera is 20-1-1 with 10 knockouts. He will be participating in his first title fight and making his first appearance in the US. Perez also will make a mandatory defense against No. 1 contender Luis Bolano. Perez (22-1, 14 knockouts) won the 51kg title on Jan. 4, 2003. Bolano (38-2, 28 knockouts) is from Colombia.
■ Basketball
Academic expresses doubts
Yao Ming has been nominated as a "Model Worker," but a prominent Chinese academic says the NBA star doesn't qualify for the title usually bestowed on ordinary laborers. "Sports stars ... are not the perfect models for the public," Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociology professor at Beijing's Renmin University, was quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday. "According to the past criteria, the title of `Model Worker' should only be given to ordinary laborers," Zhou said. The ruling party nominated the Houston Rockets center last month for the honor, which for decades has turned anonymous miners, teachers or factory workers into celebrities in the state media. Winners are to be announced April 30. Yao already has twice received a local version of the award given by his hometown of Shanghai. Shanghai has also named him an official spokesman to promote the city.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS