BASKETBALL
NBA suspends Jackson
Stephen Jackson, the Charlotte Bobcats’ leading scorer, has been suspended one game for verbal abuse of a game official and failing to leave the court in a timely manner after his ejection, the NBA said in New York on Tuesday. The fine followed an incident during Charlotte’s 104-101 loss at Milwaukee on Saturday after Jackson was assessed two technical fouls midway through the first quarter. The suspension, which would keep Jackson out of his team’s game against New Orleans yesterday, comes about three weeks after he was fined US$50,000 for verbal abuse of officials.
FOOTBALL
Harrison fined over hit
James Harrison, a Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, was fined US$25,000 for a hit on Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, giving Harrison four fines for US$125,000 this year. The latest fine for an illegal hit announced on Tuesday came for Harrison being whistled for roughing the passer on Sunday when officials ruled that the Pittsburgh defensive stalwart hit Fitzpatrick with his helmet. Harrison said he had not expected to be fined because the hit was similar to one earlier in the season on Oakland quarterback Jason Campbell that drew a penalty flag but no fine from the NFL.
FOOTBALL
49ers’ Frank Gore breaks hip
San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore will miss the rest of the NFL season because of a broken hip, the team said on Tuesday. The two-time Pro Bowl running back fractured his right hip early in San Francisco’s 27-6 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, the team said in a report on their Web site. “It is unfortunate that we had to place Frank on IR,” 49ers coach Mike Singletary said in a statement. San Francisco is third in the NFC West division with a 4-7 record and five regular-season games left.
SOCCER
OFC to appeal FIFA ruling
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) said in Wellington yesterday it would not vote on who hosts the 2018 and 2022 World Cups as its president was determined to appeal a FIFA suspension for misconduct. The move, seen as a blow to Australia’s chances of hosting the 2022 tournament, follows OFC president Reynald Temarii’s decision to press on with attempts to overturn a ban imposed after a probe into vote-buying allegations. Had Temarii dropped his appeal, Oceania could have nominated a replacement official for Thursday’s crunch vote at the headquarters of world soccer’s governing body.
BOXING
Chavez Jr pulled due to fever
Undefeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, suffering from a high fever, was pulled from the feature fight in Anaheim, California, in a Saturday card that will continue with two world title bouts, promoters said on Tuesday. Chavez, the son of a Mexican boxing legend, was to have fought Pawel Wolak in a middleweight bout, but after awakening on Tuesday with a fever near 39.4°C, the American will instead face Mexican Jose Pinzon, 18-1-1. Filipino star Nonito Donaire, the World Boxing Association bantamweight interim champion who is 24-1 with 16 knockouts, will face Ukranian Wladimiro Sidorenko, 22-2-2 with seven knockouts. Mexico’s Humberto Soto, the World Boxing Council lightweight champion who is 53-7 with two drawn and 32 knockouts, will defend against American Urbano Antillon, 28-1 with 20 knockouts.
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
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
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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