SOCCER
Schweinsteiger reinjured
Manchester United’s Bastian Schweinsteiger has reinjured his right knee while on duty with Germany and faces a race against time to be fit for the Euro 2016 in June. The 31-year-old midfielder suffered the injury training in Berlin on Tuesday and an MRI scan in Munich on Wednesday revealed he has again torn the medial ligament. He misses Germany’s home friendly against England at Berlin’s Olympiastadion tomorrow, then against Italy four days later at Munich’s Allianz Arena and faces a race to be ready for Euro 2016 in France. The news is another blow for Germany’s captain, who had been working his way back to fitness after tearing the same ligament in United’s FA Cup third-round win over Sheffield Wednesday at the start of the year.
TENNIS
Hradeka beats Bouchard
The Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradeka beat slumping Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 on Wednesday in the first round of the Miami Open. Bouchard entered the week ranked 45th in the world, 40 spots higher than Hradeka. Hradeka set up a match with Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens. American Christina McHale outlasted Japan’s Doi Misaki 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, and Coco Vandeweghe beat Samantha Crawford 6-4, 7-5 in an all-American match. In men’s play, American Taylor Fritz topped Italy’s Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-2; Britain’s Kyle Edmund held off Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8/6); Canada’s Vasek Popisil defeated Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4); Albert Ramos-Vilonas of Spain topped Colombian qualifier Alejandro Gonzales 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3); and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.
BASEBALL
Joe Garagiola dies
Joe Garagiola, whose exuberant personality carried from the baseball field to the broadcast booth to morning and late-night network television, has died. He was 90. He died on Wednesday, according to an article on Major League Baseball’s Web site, which did not give a cause. He lived in Phoenix, Arizona, where he did occasional broadcasts for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Like his friend , Yogi Berra, Garagiola exuded an everyman charm that turned him into a celebrity even among those who did not follow sports. Compared with Berra’s career, Garagiola’s injury-shortened career was unexceptional. He hit .257 in nine seasons with the St Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and New York Giants. He made his move from the dugout to the Cardinals’ radio booth when his playing career ended after the 1954 season. He began broadcasting games for NBC and was a regular on the network’s Game of the Week telecasts from 1975 to 1988, with partners including Tony Kubek and Vin Scully. The Scully-Garagiola team provided the coverage for All-Star, playoff and World Series in the 1980s.
BASEBALL
Yankees most valuable team
The New York Yankees are Major League Baseball’s most valuable team for a 19th consecutive year, coming in at nearly triple the league’s average value, according to a survey released by Forbes on Wednesday. The 27-time World Series champion Yankees were valued at US$3.4 billion, a 6 percent jump from last year and comfortably above the second-ranked Los Angeles Dodgers, whose value rose 4 percent to US$2.5 billion. The average MLB team is now worth US$1.3 billion, a 7 percent rise from last year, which Forbes attributed to new, or anticipated, richer national broadcasting deals.
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,