SOCCER
Trujillo bail agreement set
A Guatemalan judge indicted in a probe of global soccer corruption must wear an electronic monitor and cannot be more than about 80km from the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, as part of a bail agreement set on Thursday by a US magistrate. The bail agreement for Hector Trujillo also set his bond at US$4 million. Trujillo’s attorney said friends and relatives would be putting up cash and real estate properties as security for the bond. Trujillo was general secretary of Guatemala’s soccer federation at the time of his arrest last month. US authorities took him into custody on a cruise ship docked in Florida waters. He was among 16 men charged in an indictment that is part of a broad investigation into FIFA, the international soccer governing body, and he faces charges including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.
MOTOR RACING
McLaren stalwart dies
American Tyler Alexander, who helped Bruce McLaren found the McLaren Formula One team in the 1960s and remained a part of it for more than 40 years, died on Thursday at the age of 75. “Tyler Alexander was one of the first pillars of our company,” McLaren Group head Ron Dennis said in a tribute on the McLaren Web site. “Bruce couldn’t have asked for a sturdier pair of shoulders upon which to help build the team’s reputation. Tyler was one of the finest of the old school: hardy, humble and wise, leaving a reputation and a legacy that will remain indelible in the history of international motorsport.” Raised in Hingham, Massachusetts, Alexander befriended Pennsylvania lawyer Teddy Mayer, who was involved in motorsport with his racing driver brother Timmy, and then met New Zealander McLaren in England.
CRICKET
Younis contract extended
Pakistan on Thursday said that they will keep national team head coach Waqar Younis in place until the end of their England tour later this year. Waqar’s two-year contract expires in May, but Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan said his team management would continue until September. “We have not taken a final decision on the contracts of the team management, but Waqar and other staff will continue until the end of Pakistan’s tour of England,” Khan said. Pakistan play four Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 on the tour which starts on June 29. After two warm-up games the first Test starts at Lord’s from July 14. Waqar took over as head coach in June 2013, and under him Pakistan have lost six of their nine one-day series. They have shown improvement in Tests, however, winning four of their six series, losing one and drawing the other.
SOCCER
Curtis ‘impresses’ Swansea
Alan Curtis will stay in charge of Swansea until the end of the Premier League season after impressing in his role as caretaker manager following the firing of Garry Monk last month. Swansea has collected five points in five games under Curtis, who has kept the Welsh team out of the relegation zone. “We have all been impressed with the way [Curtis] has improved performance levels ... the players have obviously responded to him because we have seen an uplift in performances,” Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins said. Jenkins on Thursday said that finding a replacement for Monk “hasn’t been easy because we didn’t want to make a short-term decision that would be detrimental to the club long-term.” Swansea is 17th in the 20-team Premier League.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
Taiwanese martial artists bagged one gold, four silver and three bronze medals at the World Junior Wushu Championships in Brunei, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brunei Darussalam said yesterday. Liu Yu-tzu won the gold medal in the girl’s taijiquan A group and also picked up a silver medal in the girl’s taijijian A group. Hu Hsin-ling, Yu Min-hsun and Chen Chao-hsiang each won a silver medal in the girl’s jianshu B, boy’s nangun B and boy’s taijijian A groups respectively. Hu also won a bronze medal in the girl’s qiangshu B group, while Yu and Lin Shih-hung picked up bronze medals
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