BASEBALL
Stroman to miss MLB season
Marcus Stroman suffered a torn left knee ligament while taking fielding practice on Tuesday, robbing the Toronto Blue Jays of one of their starting pitchers for the upcoming Major League Baseball season. The 23-year-old right-hander moved to cover first base on a bunt attempt and felt a pop in his knee, detected as a torn anterior cruciate ligament by an MRI exam. “Beyond devastated,” was how Stroman described it on Twitter. “Not being able to compete with my brothers each and every day is extremely disappointing. Still can’t believe it.”
BASKETBALL
Miami’s Whiteside banned
The Miami Heat’s center Hassan Whiteside was suspended for one game without pay on Tuesday by the National Basketball Association for elbowing the Boston Celtics’ center Kelly Olynyk in the back of the neck. The violation took place with 2 minutes, 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Boston’s 100-90 victory in Miami on Monday. Whiteside guarded Olynyk near the free throw line and when he turned to move toward the basket, Whiteside elbowed him in the back of the neck. Whiteside then charged at Olynyk and threw him to the floor. The incident drew a flagrant foul call on the play and Whiteside was ejected from the game after scoring seven points and grabbing nine rebounds in 21 minutes. Whiteside was set to serve his ban yesterday when the Heat hosted the Brooklyn Nets. Whiteside’s violation was his second outburst in as many weeks, having tackled Phoenix center Alex Len in an altercation that led to ejections for both players. Whiteside has averaged 10.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks since signing with the Heat midway into the season, Miami’s first arrival since the departure of superstar LeBron James, who guided the Heat to the past four NBA finals and won two titles before leaving in July last year for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
SOCCER
EPL teams to play in Asia
Arsenal, Everton and Stoke City are scheduled to play in the Asia Trophy held in Singapore for the first time this year as part of their English Premier League (EPL) preseason, organizers said yesterday. The English clubs are set to be joined by a Singapore Select XI, comprised mainly of national team players, in the knockout tournament to be held on July 15 and July 18. “We are very excited to bring the Barclays Asia Trophy to Singapore for the first time,” Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said in a statement. Arsenal and Stoke will be competing in the biennial tournament for the first time, while Everton appear for the first time since the 2005 edition in Bangkok. This year’s Asia Trophy is timed to coincide with celebrations marking Singapore’s 50th year of independence from British colonial rule in August. Manchester City won the last edition in 2013 in Hong Kong. The Singapore tournament is scheduled to be held at the 55,000-seat National Stadium, which opened last year. The English clubs are expected to bring strong squads in preparation for the new Premier League season, which begins on Aug. 8.
RUGBY UNION
Guitoune out of Italy clash
France winger Sofiane Guitoune is ruled out of Sunday’s Six Nations match against Italy and has been replaced by Marc Andreu, the team announced at their training camp outside Paris on Tuesday. The Bordeaux-Begles back, who played in the 20-13 defeat against Wales in Paris, picked up a thigh injury during his club’s Top 14 defeat against Stade Francais on Saturday, last week.
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
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