BASKETBALL
Bulls fire head coach
The Chicago Bulls fired Tom Thibodeau as head coach on Thursday, ending a five-year tenure marked by a deteriorating relationship with the front office. The defensive-minded Thibodeau, who had US$9 million remaining on his contract, compiled a strong .647 winning percentage, but his Bulls went 23-28 in five trips to the playoffs. Chicago went 52-32 this past season, finishing second in the Central Division to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who eliminated them from the playoffs in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg is believed to be a leading candidate for the job. Friction between Thibodeau, team president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman had escalated over the past two seasons. Chicago Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said there had been a breakdown in the team’s “organizational culture.”
BASKETBALL
Thompson recovering: dad
Golden State guard Klay Thompson was recovering well from a blow to the head that caused headaches and vomiting and should be ready for the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, his father has said. Thompson suffered concussion-like symptoms after he received a knee in the head during Golden State’s Western Conference-clinching victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. He had bleeding from a cut to his ear and later vomited, forcing his father Mychal — a former NBA player — to drive him home, though the elder Thompson said his son was recovering well, even if he still needs to pass neurological tests before resuming practice. “He’s looking like his old self, he has a healthy appetite again and that’s always a good sign,” Mychal told the San Jose Mercury News.
ICE HOCKEY
New coach for Sharks
The San Jose Sharks, who failed to make the playoffs this season for the first time since 2003, appointed Peter DeBoer as the franchise’s eighth head coach on Thursday. DeBoer, 46, replaces Todd McLellan, whose departure from the team last month after seven seasons behind the Sharks bench was described as a mutual agreement. “Peter is a well-respected leader who possesses all of the characteristics we were looking for in our next head coach,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement. DeBoer was fired by the New Jersey Devils after 36 games last season, his fourth as head coach with the team. In 2012, he guided the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final. The Sharks, who have won six division championships, but have yet to claim a conference title, finished this season 12th in the 14-team Western Conference with a 40-33-9 record.
ICE HOCKEY
Sabres hire Bylsma as coach
Former Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma was appointed head coach of the struggling Buffalo Sabres, the team said on Thursday. Bylsma, 44, joins the Sabres after spending six seasons in Pittsburgh where he led the Penguins to the 2009 Stanley Cup and an impressive regular season record of 252-117-32. His career record gives him the best points percentage (.668) of any head coach in the NHL who has worked in that role for at least three full seasons. Pittsburgh qualified for the playoffs in all six seasons under Bylsma’s leadership, winning two division titles and posting the best record in the Eastern Conference in 2012-2013. He was fired as Penguins coach after the 2013-2014 season. Bylsma faces a big challenge with the Sabres who ended this season stone-last in the 30-team National Hockey League with a dismal 23-51-8 record.
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
HSIEH ADVANCES: In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was to play in the second round last night, but Taiwan’s Ray Ho exited in the men’s doubles It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed “Baby Federer” would win a Grand Slam title. There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that, but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked No. 21, it most likely never will. Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned
TAIWANESE WIN: Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien and their partners won their first-round matches in the women’s doubles at the All England Lawn Tennis Club Late-night finishes and five-set matches are becoming a habit for Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon this year. On Wednesday, he wrapped up his win over Gabriel Diallo before the match was suspended — making sure the fifth-seeded American would not have to come back on court for a fourth straight day. Fritz overcame a bloodied elbow to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/0), 4-6, 6-3 on No. 1 Court a day after he finished off another five-set win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a match that was halted on Monday at about 10:15pm after Fritz forced a fifth set with Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew looming. He
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
RSS