ICE HOCKEY
Deryk Engelland suspended
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland has been suspended for three games for an illegal check to the head of Chicago Blackhawks forward Marcus Kruger, the NHL announced on Thursday. Less than nine minutes into Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win on Tuesday, Engelland launched himself into Kruger, driving his forearm to the head of the Chicago forward. Kruger suffered a concussion from the hit. No penalty was assessed on the play, but right after the hit, Blackhawks enforcer John Scott fought Engelland and received an instigator penalty on top of his fighting major and the Penguins scored on the ensuing power play. Engelland will forfeit more than US$9,000 of his salary, which will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
SOCCER
Atletico fire Manzano
Atletico Madrid put Gregorio Manzano out of his misery on Thursday when their unpopular board sacked the coach following the King’s Cup defeat by third-tier Albacete and offered Diego Simeone his job. The 55-year-old Manzano’s departure came after less than a half-season in his second stint at the helm, while former Atletico midfielder Simeone said he was ready to take over after quitting as coach of Racing Club in his native Argentina on Tuesday. Club president Enrique Cerezo told reporters the 42-year-old Simeone, a fan favorite as a player, was enthusiastic about their offer and the club were expecting his response by yesterday. “We have only made an offer to Simeone,” Cerezo added. Known as “the professor,” Manzano has overseen an erratic campaign including a 5-0 league drubbing at Barcelona.
SOCCER
Villarreal promote Molina
Villarreal have promoted former Spain goalkeeper Jose Francisco Molina from B team coach to take charge of the first team following the dismissal of Juan Carlos Garrido, the La Liga club said on Thursday. Villarreal were humbled 2-0 at home by third-tier Mirandes in the King’s Cup on Wednesday, losing the last-32 match 3-1 on aggregate and prompting president Fernando Roig to sack Garrido immediately after the final whistle. He leaves the side hovering just above the La Liga relegation places after 16 rounds of a stuttering campaign that also saw them beaten in all six of their Champions League Group A games, scoring just two goals and conceding 14. Molina, 41, who kept goal for Villarreal, Atletico Madrid and Deportivo Coruna, has agreed a contract until the end of the season, the club said on their Web site.
RUGBY UNION
NZ name assistant coach
World champions New Zealand have named former Waikato Chiefs supremo Ian Foster as assistant coach. Foster, who coached the New Zealand Super rugby side in more than 100 matches between 2004 and this year, will assist recently appointed head coach Steve Hansen, who has been tasked with sustaining the top-ranked side’s success following Graham Henry’s retirement. Foster replaces former assistant coach Wayne Smith, who stepped aside to take up a coaching consultant role with the Chiefs. “This is a great honor to work with the All Blacks. I’m thankful for the faith that Steve Hansen and the board have shown in me,” Foster, a former coach of the Junior All Blacks, said in a statement released by the New Zealand Rugby Union yesterday. The All Blacks have also named Brian McLean, who was an assistant to Samoa at this year’s World Cup, as defense coach, with a skills coach to be named in the new year.
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
China’s Wu Yize on Monday won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year. Wu is also the second-youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990. “I have been trying
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