ICE HOCKEY
Devils re-sign center Zajac
The New Jersey Devils re-signed center Travis Zajac to a long-term deal after he helped the team reach the Stanley Cup Finals last season, the National Hockey League team said on Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the Devils, but media reported it was an eight-year, US$46 million contract. Zajac missed all but 15 games of the 2011-2012 regular season, but returned in time to play a key role in the Devils’ playoff run, scoring 14 points in the team’s 24 post-season games. Zajac, who was selected by the Devils in the first round of the 2004 NHL Draft, missed most of last season with an Achilles injury, but was in stellar form for the post-season. With the Devils facing elimination in the opening round of last year’s playoffs, Zajac scored an overtime goal that forced a decisive seventh game against the Florida Panthers.
CRICKET
Shane Warne faces ban
Australian veteran Shane Warne is facing a new ban for an alleged breach of the spirit of the game in a domestic Twenty20 match, Cricket Australia (CA) said yesterday. The bowling great apologized last week after a foul-mouthed rant against West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels that earned him a ban and a fine in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL). However, in Wednesday night’s semi-final Warne, the official Melbourne Stars skipper, was not listed as captain for the match they lost against Perth Scorchers. Cricket Australia said it had recently sent a memo to BBL teams about the captaincy role. “If a team’s official captain is selected, but not named as captain, this will be considered against the spirit of cricket and may attract a code of behavior charge,” it said. “Warne has been reported for breaching CA’s code of behavior.”
BADMINTON
Salleh to run for president
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Nadzmi Mohd Salleh has confirmed he will run for the top job at the sport’s world governing body at its May elections. Current Badminton World Federation (BWF) president Kang Young-joong of South Korea said last month he would step down from the role in May after eight years at the helm. China head coach Li Yongbo recently declared his support for Nadzmi, while Indonesian Justian Suhandinata has already made clear his intentions to run for the post. Badminton came under fire during the London Olympics in July last year, when four women’s doubles pairs from South Korea, China and Indonesia deliberately played to lose their matches to get a more favorable draw. The BWF disqualified all four pairings and banned them after the farcical scenes raised serious doubts about the game’s future inclusion in future Olympics.
RUGBY UNION
Burger to captain Stormers
Springbok flanker Schalk Burger will captain the Western Stormers in this year’s Super 15 season after recovering from injury, coach Allister Coetzee confirmed on Wednesday. Burger, 29, suffered a knee injury in the opening round of last year’s southern hemisphere provincial championship that kept the forward sidelined all season. Springbok skipper and center Jean de Villiers replaced Burger as leader of the Stormers and now reverts to vice captain as the team seek a first title. The return of 2007 World Cup winner Burger heightens competition for Springbok back-row places, with the Bulls’ Pierre Spies also fit again and ready to challenge incumbents Francois Louw, Willem Alberts and Duane Vermeulen.
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
This year’s Taiwan Athletics Open, which offers Taiwanese athletes an opportunity to compete against their international peers, would be held under a new name after its organizers had earlier announced the event’s cancelation. In a statement issued yesterday, the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association said the competition would still take place on June 6-7 at Banciao Stadium, but under the name “New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026.” The event was given a new name to emphasize its local identity and conform with the international practice of naming World Athletics Tour events after cities, the association said. It said it would soon
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
SEASON ENDING: The Nuggets took the third seed in the Western Conference and are to face the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round The Denver Nuggets, fueled by 23 first-half points from Nikola Jokic, on Sunday beat the San Antonio Spurs 128-118, notching their 12th straight victory to clinch the Western Conference third seed on the last day of the NBA regular season. On a day when coaches rested dozens of players in preparation for the looming playoffs, three-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jokic had to play at least 15 minutes to be eligible for end of season awards, including MVP. The Serbian big man played just over 18, propelling the Nuggets to a 70-56 halftime lead that they would not relinquish
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