■BASEBALL
Azocar dies of heart attack
Oscar Azocar, a former major league outfielder with the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres in the early 1990s, died of a heart attack on Monday in his native Venezuela. He was 45. Azocar died in a hospital in the city of Valencia in central Venezuela, said Diogenes Nazar, press spokesman for local professional team Navegantes del Magallanes — one of the sides Azocar played for. Azocar, who started his playing career as a pitcher before switching to the outfield, joined the Yankees in 1990 and a year later moved to the Padres, where he played until 1992. He also played for a number of Venezuelan professional teams, including the Leones del Caracas, Tigres de Aragua and Tiburones de La Guaira.
■BASKETBALL
Walker to stand trial
A judge on Monday ruled that former NBA player Antoine Walker must stand trial over unpaid gambling debts of nearly US$1 million to three casinos. Walker didn’t speak on Monday as he appeared with his attorney, Jonathan Powell, before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson.
The 33-year-old Walker, who won an NBA title with Miami in 2006, remains free without bail until his June 30 arraignment in state court. Andress-Tobiasson noted that Walker hasn’t made any progress repaying some US$770,000 he owes on a promise last November to pay US$905,050 in restitution, court fees and penalties. Andress-Tobiasson bound Walker over for trial in Clark County District Court on three criminal charges of writing bad checks. If convicted, Walker could face up to 12 years in prison on the combined charges.
■TENNIS
Bogdanovic wins qualifier
Britain’s Alex Bogdanovic moved closer to earning a place in the main draw at Wimbledon through his own efforts after winning his opening qualifying match at Roehampton on Monday. Bogdanovic has been heavily criticized after receiving wild cards into Wimbledon for the last eight years and then losing in the first round of the grasscourt Grand Slam on each occasion. The British No. 2 was not recommended for a wildcard for this year’s Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, despite being well inside the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) guideline cut-off point of 250 in the world rankings.
■CRICKET
NZ to tour Zimbabwe
New Zealand are looking to resume tours of Zimbabwe next year as a measure of political calm returns to the African country, officials from both nations said yesterday. A scheduled tour to Zimbabwe this month was postponed by New Zealand Cricket, the second time the tour originally scheduled for the middle of last year had been put off. But New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan, after meeting Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister David Coltart in Christchurch, said yesterday that a tour by the national team was on the cards next year. Vaughan said New Zealand Minister for Sport and Recreation Murray McCully had a “positive meeting” with Coltart in Wellington this week. “It is clear from that meeting that our government’s position is that they would not oppose New Zealand touring Zimbabwe next year,” Vaughan said. The planned tour this year was canceled after the New Zealand government expressed concerns about player safety. Zimbabwe has been battered by a decade of political turmoil and increasing poverty.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS