■ICE HOCKEY
Wolves beat league leaders
The Taipei Wolves downed the league’s top team at the Taipei Arena on Saturday, with two goals from Adrian Nolan and a monster blast from Cullen Revel helping the Wolves over the Taipei Rhinos 4-3. Later the Hsinchu Raptors’ brothers Andy and Eric Shen racked up a combined 8 points to give their team an 8-6 win over the Sababa Bears. On Sunday the Taichung Lions clinched a playoff spot by beating the Taipei Tigers 4-3, with the winning goal coming from Xiao Guo with four minutes left in the game. Later the Rhinos avenged their loss the night before by edging the Bears 4-3, leaving the Bears pointless for the weekend.
■SOCCER
Gerrard appeals to UEFA
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard on Sunday appealed to UEFA to make sure the club do not have to play on the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. The club has asked European soccer’s governing body not to schedule its Champions League quarter-final, second leg for April 15. The date will mark 20 years since 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, which was hosting the club’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest. Gerrard, who lost a cousin at Hillsborough, wrote on the club’s Web site: “We hope that UEFA show some common sense.”
■SOCCER
Gascoigne talks about rehab
England soccer legend Paul Gascoigne said his heart stopped three times while he was in rehab for drink addiction last year, in an interview broadcast yesterday. Rumors that he had died were closer to the truth than most people realized, he said, telling Sky News television: “My heart failed on us a few times.” Gascoigne also spoke candidly about his attack on his ex-wife Cheryl, saying: “If you are sitting in a restaurant and somebody calls your mum a whore, which she did, and for no reason, I don’t like that — and yes, I got hold of her arms and I did put my head against her head. I didn’t headbutt her but I threw her to the floor, and I was disgusted with myself for what I did.”
■BADMINTON
Lee takes revenge on Lin
Malaysian world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei took his long awaited revenge over world and Olympic Champion Lin Dan with a 21-16, 21-16 victory in the final of the Swiss Open Super Series in Basel, Switzerland, on Sunday. It was their 15th head-to-head in individual events, as opposed to team competitions, but lifted Lee only to 4-11 after a frustrating 18-month spell against his big rival. The women’s title went to China’s rising force Wang Yihan.
■SKI JUMPING
Austrian clinches Cup title
Gregor Schlierenzauer won a ski flying meet in Vikersund, Norway, on Sunday and clinched the overall World Cup ski jumping title. The Austrian took a big lead by soaring 207.5m in the opening round. The other jumpers were not even close to the 200m mark. In the second round, Schlierenzauer hit 192m for a total of 386.4 points. Schlierenzauer failed to win an individual gold medal at last month’s Nordic World Ski Championships in the Czech Republic. Simon Ammann of Switzerland, the 2006 world champion and a former Olympic gold medalist, finished second with 379.7 points after jumps of 191 and 202.5m. With two events left, Schlierenzauer leads the overall standings with 1,938 points. Ammann is second with 1,676 points. Defending overall champion Thomas Morgenstern of Austria wound up 23rd and is sixth in the overall standings.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when