CRICKET
Bangladesh coach quits
Shane Jurgensen has quit as Bangladesh head coach after a string of poor performances by the squad sparked severe criticism from the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Jurgensen sent a letter from his home in Australia to the board saying that he would leave his post after the completion of Bangladesh’s limited-overs series against India, scheduled to be held in June. The board on Monday confirmed it received Jurgensen’s resignation, but is yet to formally accept it because board president Nazmul Hasan is away in Singapore. Jurgensen steered Bangladesh to a one-day-international series win against New Zealand, before losing a series to Sri Lanka and conducting miserable Asia Cup and ICC World Twenty20 Wolrd Cup campaigns. Following the World Twenty20, Hassan said he was considering radical changes in the team and its support staff. Bangladeshi media at the time reported that a change in the coaching position was imminent and that the new coach would likely need to have some batting pedigree.
ICE HOCKEY
Top defensemen nominated
Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators have been named as finalists for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL’s top defenseman, the league said on Monday. Chara, a six-time finalist who won the award in the 2008-2009 season, averaged a team-high 24 minutes, 39 seconds of ice time per game, nearly three minutes more than the next-closest player. Keith, a two-time finalist who captured the award for the 2009-2010 campaign, led all defensemen with 55 assists and ranked second among blueliners with 61 points, while playing a team-high average of 24 minutes, 38 seconds per game. Weber, a two-time runner-up for the trophy, ranked first among defensemen with 23 goals.
TENNIS
Busta advances in Portugal
Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain ousted eighth-seeded Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-1, 7-6 (3) on Monday to reach the second round of the Portugal Open. Carreno Busta broke his opponent five times in the match, but also lost his serve three times in the second set before prevailing in the tiebreaker. Both players struggled with their first serve, as Carreno Busta landed just 51 percent of his to 47 percent for Kukushkin. In the only other match on Monday in Oeiras, Portugal, Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan defeated Adrian Mannarino of France 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
TENNIS
Delbonis beats Davydenko
Federico Delbonis of Argentina beat two-time champion Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Monday to reach the second round of the BMW Open. The 44th-ranked Delbonis never faced a break point and broke the Russian twice in the first set to take control of the match. German wild-card entry Dustin Brown also advanced by ousting big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) in a match that saw no breaks of serve and only one break point for each player. Brown will play top-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy in the second round of the tournament in Munich, Germany. In Monday’s other matches, Alejandro Falla of Colombia defeated Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-2, 6-1, and Marinko Matosevic of Australia advanced when Michal Przysiezny of Poland retired while leading 6-2, 5-6.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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