■ Baseball
Jeff Reardon gets busted
Jeff Reardon, one of the top relief pitchers in Major League Baseball history, was charged with robbing a jewelry store, then blamed his arrest on medication he was taking for depression. The 50-year-old Reardon, retired since 1994 and sixth in career saves, walked into Hamilton Jewelers at the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on Monday and handed an employee a note saying he had a gun and the store was being robbed, police said Tuesday. Reardon fled the store with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police found him at a nearby restaurant, recovered the stolen money and charged him with armed robbery. Reardon made a brief appearance in court Tuesday and was to be released on US$5,000 bail, said his attorney, Mitchell Beers. "He asked me to apologize to his fans and friends," Beers said. "This bizarre incident is completely uncharacteristic of Jeff Reardon."
■ Soccer
Pele's son put in program
Pele's son will enter a drug rehabilitation program while he awaits trial on drug-related charges, media in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil reported on Tuesday. Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, 35, was released from prison on Dec. 17 and decided to seek treatment after consulting with Pele and his family, the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported. Nascimento, a former professional soccer player known as Edinho, was among 50 people arrested on June 6 when police dismantled a drug gang based in Santos, a port city 300km southwest of Rio de Janeiro.
■ Soccer
US adds players to roster
Kansas City midfielder Chris Klein and MetroStars goalkeeper Zach Wells were added on Tuesday to the roster for the US national team training camp that starts Jan. 4 in Carson, California. The pair replaced Chicago midfielder Justin Mapp and Columbus goalkeeper Jonny Walker, who are injured, the US Soccer Federation said. The US team, which will play in its fifth straight World Cup in June, is preparing for friendlies against Canada on Jan. 22 at San Diego; Norway on Jan. 29 at Carson; and Japan on Feb. 10 in San Francisco.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
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