TENNIS
Sampras trophies stolen
Pete Sampras has had most of his trophies and other memorabilia stolen from a storage facility, he said. The Los Angeles Times reported that the thieves made off with most of his trophies from his 64 tour wins, two Davis Cups, an Olympic ring and six trophies for his world No. 1 rankings from 1993 to 1998. However, Sampras still has all but one of his Grand Slam trophies. “I have 13 of my 14 Grand Slam trophies. My first Australian Open trophy [1994] is gone, and so is everything else,” the now-retired Sampras told the newspaper. Sampras, 39, said his trophies were stored in a warehouse in Los Angeles. “Losing this stuff is like having the history of my tennis life taken away,” he said.
BOXING
Klitschko pulls out of bout
Vladimir Klitschko has pulled out of his heavyweight world title defense against British challenger Dereck Chisora citing an injury. The Ukrainian, 39, holder of three world heavyweight crowns, announced on his Web site yesterday that he had injured a stomach muscle in training the day before and would be unable to box in Mannheim, Germany, tomorrow. It was the first time Klitschko, who holds the WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles, had been forced to miss a title bout through injury. Chisora, 26, has won all his 14 bouts and was hoping to become Britain’s second world titleholder after David Haye, who holds the WBA belt.
CRICKET
Windies tour cut short
West Indies have decided to cut short their current tour of Sri Lanka because of adverse weather conditions prevailing in the country. The first one-day international of a five-match series was scheduled to start yesterday at Sri Lanka’s new international venue Hambantota but bad weather prevented both teams from having a single net session. Both cricket boards have agreed to postpone the one-day series and reschedule it for late next month with three matches instead of the present five. A Sri Lanka Cricket release stated that “the decision was taken with the mutual understanding of both cricket boards and our television partners.” Bad weather affected the three-match Test series which ended at Pallakele, Kandy on Sunday with the series shared 0-0. The third Test saw only 103.3 overs bowled in the entire match. More rains are forecast for the next two weeks in the island nation.
BASEBALL
Chicago clubs sign sluggers
Major League Baseball’s Chicago clubs agreed to deals with top sluggers on Wednesday, the White Sox keeping Paul Konerko in a three-year deal while the Cubs landed free agent first baseman Carlos Pena. The deals came during meetings in Florida among club executives and produced a one-year Cubs deal worth US$10 million for Pena while Konerko will make US$37.5 million in a deal to stay with the White Sox through 2013. Konerko, 34, was fifth in voting for the American League Most Valuable Player award this season after batting .312 with 39 home runs and driving in 111 runs. Konerko, a first baseman, helped the White Sox win the 2005 World Series after arriving from Cincinnati eight years earlier and has career totals with the White Sox of 358 homers and 1,127 runs batted in. Pena, who played the past four years with Tampa Bay, helped the Rays reach their first World Series in 2008. Pena, 32, will be able to become a free agent again next year. This year, Pena hit only .196 with 28 homers and batted in 84 runs after better numbers each of his prior seasons.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
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