SOCCER
Las Palmas fire coach
UD Las Palmas have become the first La Liga club to fire their coach this season after Paco Herrera paid the price for Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing at Getafe, which left the Canary Islands club second from bottom. Herrera, 61, who has also had stints in charge at clubs including Real Zaragoza and RC Celta de Vigo and was an assistant to Rafael Benitez at Liverpool, helped Las Palmas win promotion to Spain’s top flight last term after a 13-year absence. However, they have only five points from eight matches and the club said on their Web site they needed a “boost” after the woeful showing against Getafe. There was no immediate word on a successor. Las Palmas have not had a sustained run in the top flight since the 1980s and were playing in the third tier of Spanish soccer less than a decade ago. The club said they wished Herrera “every professional success in the future, conscious of the fact that he wrote one of the happiest pages in the history of this club.”
SOCCER
Sporting, Granada draw 3-3
Real Sporting de Gjion scored two late goals after Granada had been reduced to nine men to claim a dramatic 3-3 draw in Gijon, Spain, in La Liga on Monday. Sporting trailed by two goals until Nacho Cases gave them hope with a goal in the 88th minute after Granada lost Hugo Miguel to his second booking. That sparked a furious push by the hosts, and after Granada’s Matheus was dismissed for a second bookable offense, substitute Miguel Herrero netted the equalizer six minutes into second-half stoppage-time. Granada squandered a great performance by forward Isaac Success, who netted his side’s second and also played a part in two more goals as the visitors built a two-goal lead.
TENNIS
Karlovic beats Seppi
Ivo Karlovic added 17 aces to his all-time record total while defeating Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in the first round of the Erste Bank Open on Monday. The seventh-seeded Croat held serve throughout and broke Seppi at 3-2 in the second set for the only break in the match. Karlovic has now hit 10,306 aces in his career. Earlier, Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic defeated Austrian wild-card Gerald Melzer 6-4, 6-3. The 40th-ranked Vesely dropped serve once in the opening set on the only break point he faced. He will next play second seed Kevin Anderson or Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria. Radek Stepanek won another Czech-Austrian duel, beating Dennis Novak 6-4, 6-3, while Lukas Rosol became the third Czech player to advance after defeating Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (7/2). Also, Ernests Gulbis of Latvia ended his five-match losing streak by defeating Austrian qualifier Lucas Miedler 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. The 522nd-ranked Miedler appeared in his first main-draw match at ATP level. David Ferrer of Spain is the top-seeded player at the 41st edition of the Austrian indoor event.
GOLF
Spieth to headline Singapore
Organizers say PGA Tour Player of the Year Jordan Spieth will headline the Singapore Open in January, when the tournament returns after a three-year absence. Spieth, who won this year’s Masters and US Open, will be looking to join a list of big-name Singapore Open winners, including three-time title holder Adam Scott, Ian Poulter, Angel Cabrera and defending champion Matteo Manassero. Spieth, 22, will play in Singapore for the first time. “I know the SMBC Singapore Open is one of Asia’s leading events and I couldn’t be more excited to add it to my 2016 playing schedule,” he said.
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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