GOLF
Play abandoned in Madeira
The first round of the Madeira Islands Open was abandoned without a ball being hit on Thursday after heavy fog enveloped the Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra. The 1,500th tournament in European Tour history was set to see two rounds of action yesterday at a venue which stands at 700m above sea level. “We abandoned play because five of the holes have been unplayable all day due to the fog,” tournament director Jose Maria Zamora said. “Basically, 13 of the holes have been playable for much of the day, but five of the holes higher up the mountain — one, nine, 10, 11 and 18 — have had no visibility all day.”
TENNIS
Federer to play French Open
Roger Federer will take part in the French Open, despite earlier suggesting he may take time out to be with wife Mirka, who gave birth to the couple’s second set of twins this week. Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick told the ATP Tour Web site that the Swiss star intends to feature at the French Open, which starts at Roland Garros in Paris on May 25, where he would stretch his consecutive run of Grand Slam events to 58. “Roger plans on playing Roland Garros and he will make a decision at the last minute if he will play Rome [next week] depending on how everything is going with his family,” Godsick said. Mirka Federer gave birth to two sons, Leo and Lenny, on Tuesday. The couple already have twin girls, Myla Rose and Charlene Ri, who will be five in July. Federer, 32, has played in a record 57 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, this past January eclipsing the mark previously set by Wayne Ferreira in 2003. He will be making his 16th straight appearance at the French Open, where he won the title in 2009 to complete a career Grand Slam
BASKETBALL
Snake unnerves Trail Blazer
The Portland Trail Blazers had a snake in their locker room on Thursday. Not a backstabbing, treacherous teammate — a real live snake. The reptile, believed to be a baby rattlesnake, was found coiled up in reserve forward Thomas Robinson’s locker ahead of their playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs. Robinson, who stands 2.08m and weighs 107.5kg, was unnerved by the find. “I screamed,” he said. “I saw something curled up. I screamed. I jumped. I yelled.” Security personnel removed the snake from the locker. Robinson scored only two points on Thursday as the Trail Blazers were beaten 114-97 to fall 2-0 behind in their best-of-seven Western Conference semi-finals series.
ANTI-DOPING
Former cop to head agency
Australia has appointed a former federal police officer to head its anti-doping agency amid ongoing investigations into the links between organized crime and drugs in sports. Sports Minister Peter Dutton yesterday announced the appointment of Ben McDevitt, who has held high-ranking positions in the federal police and the Australian Crime Commission over a 28-year career in law enforcement, as chief executive of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. The authority is still considering whether individual Australian rules or rugby league players should be charged after a 13-month investigation into the use of banned substances in the top national leagues. An investigation into supplements programs in the leagues has already resulted in a AS$2 million (US$1.87 million) fine for Australian Football League club Essendon and a AS$1 million fine for National Rugby League club Cronulla.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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