BASEBALL
Yanks drop six-man rotation
The New York Yankees have decided six pitchers in their starting rotation is one too many, manager Joe Girardi said on Thursday. “We feel we need to get it down to a five-man rotation and go with it,” Girardi told Major League Baseball’s Web site. The decision could leave either A.J. Burnett or Phil Hughes in a reduced role. There is only one spot open in a five-man rotation because the previous odd-man out, Ivan Nova, apparently has pitched well enough recently to earn a starting spot with C.C. Sabathia, Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia.
SOCCER
Former Mexico player killed
Authorities say former Mexico defender Ignacio Flores Ocaranza was killed in a late-night roadside attack that left his van riddled with bullets. The attorney general’s office for the state of Morelos said Flores was killed at a gas station late on Wednesday, and two of his brothers were wounded, apparently with rounds from an assault rifle. The motive is unknown. The office said in a statement on Thursday that the member of Mexico’s 1978 World Cup team was visiting his aging mother in the city of Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City. Flores played for Cruz Azul in the 1970s and 1980s and won five Mexican titles.
SOCCER
Players told to act proper
With the English Premier League season starting against the backdrop of civil disorder in England, soccer authorities are urging players to set a better example to youngsters. A crackdown on bad behavior on the pitch was launched on Thursday, including an attempt to eradicate unacceptable criticism and abuse of referees by players and managers. English Football Association chairman David Bernstein said the “Get on with the Game” initiative is “even more important in the light of what is happening in wider society.”
CYCLING
Voeckler to go against horse
French Tour de France hero Thomas Voeckler is set to pit his cycling skills against horse and jockey at a race course in Sables d’Olonne, France, next week, it was announced on Thursday. Voeckler, who rides for Europcar, had the hosts of the world’s premier cycling event dreaming of the first home winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985, when he spent 10 days in the yellow jersey last month. In the end the former French champion finished a commendable fourth overall, and nearly three weeks later he is still riding a wave of popular support that will see him take on top French jockey Eric Raffin on Wednesday. Such challenges between horses and cyclists are not uncommon, although Voeckler will have the benefit of racing on an asphalt track which has been built parallel to the grass at the race course.
ATHLETICS
Blood tests for all at worlds
Every athlete at the upcoming track and field world championships is to undergo a blood test in what the sport’s governing body says is an “unprecedented anti-doping program.” The IAAF said samples would be collected at a doping control station at the athletes’ village beginning on Thursday and analyzed at an onsite doping laboratory and again in Lausanne, Switzerland, after the championships. It is the first time “a heterogeneous population of nearly 2,000 elite athletes competing in a major sports event will be blood tested under the same optimal conditions, within the same time period,” the IAAF said.
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