■FOOTBALL
NFL suspends Bills’ Lynch
Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch received a three-game suspension from the National Football League on Thursday for a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy. The banishment without pay for the Bills’ opening games in September came a month after Lynch pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge in Los Angeles. He was also involved in a hit-and-run accident last May. Lynch was arrested in February after police found a semi-automatic handgun inside a backpack of a parked car in which Lynch was seated. He pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to community service and three years on probation.
■SNOOKER
Game to receive facelift
The reputation of snooker as one of sport’s more traditional games is set to be turned on its head by plans to introduce a radical new condensed format of the game. Impressed by the success of Cricket’s Twenty20, World Snooker chairman Sir Rodney Walker is anxious to lure new fans to the green baize. Outlining his plans in Thursday’s Guardian, he said the new format would feature the same number of colors but only six reds, with games intended to last an average of six or seven minutes. The game has a working title of ‘Super6s’ and is to be trialed at this month’s World Championships in Sheffield with a legends versus rising stars tournament.
■SOCCER
Loyalists behind attacks
Local units of the two main loyalist terror organizations in Northern Ireland were behind events that have seen 40 Polish migrant workers flee in recent weeks. Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defense Association (UDA) in south Belfast organized the intimidation of the Poles over the past fortnight, security sources in the city said. The attacks on Polish homes in south Belfast were believed to be in response to an outbreak of hooliganism by soccer fans from Poland during last month’s World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park. Before the crucial Northern Ireland versus Poland match in Belfast on March 28, a group of Polish hooligans smashed up pubs and attacked local fans. One senior security source said last night that a series of revenge attacks had been coordinated by local UDA and UVF units.
■CYCLING
Albasini wins fourth stage
Michael Albasini won the fourth stage of the Tour of Basque Country on Thursday and defending champion Alberto Contador maintained the overall lead. Albasini crossed the line just ahead of Jurgen Van den Broeck and Christian Vandevelde after the three cyclists had pulled away from the peloton toward the end of the 161km stage. Albasini finished with a winning time of 3 hours, 59 minutes, 42 seconds.
■SOCCER
Empress praises Samurais
Japanese Empress Michiko has compared the nation’s baseball team the Samurais to their namesake. Michiko’s comments were prompted by the team’s victory in retaining the World Baseball Classic title last month. The empress was speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the transcript of which was embargoed until yesterday, the 50th anniversary of her wedding to Emporer Akihito. “Although the Japanese players who distinguished themselves in the World Baseball Classic did not wear traditional armour, commit ritual suicide or speak in archaic Japanese, each one fought with beauty and strength, with something of the samurai spirit in them.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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