TENNIS
Djokovic donates to Serbia
Tennis world No. 1 Novak Djokovic yesterday said that he is donating 1 million euros (US$1.12 million) to help his native Serbia buy respirators and other gear to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The player was speaking in a videoconference call from Marbella, Spain, where he and his family are hunkering down under nationwide lockdown orders. “Our donation is for the purchase of life-saving respirators and other sanitary equipment,” the tennis star said, adding that he also plans to start “posting physical exercises I do in our apartment on social networks.”
CRICKET
English mull virus checks
The England and Wales Cricket Board is considering installing coronavirus checkpoints and isolation units at grounds so that games could restart behind closed doors. The board last week announced that no professional cricket would be played before May 28 at the earliest, but the board is stepping up its planning for a potential resumption of international action with no spectators. “We’re mapping out what international matches would look like behind closed doors,” Director of Special Projects Steve Elworthy told the Guardian. “You have to think about ... creating a safe and sterile environment around that venue so that everyone who comes in is clear. So it’s how you test them at the gate, the isolation units that you have to put in.”
OLYMPICS
Athletes qualified until 2021
Olympic officials have confirmed that the 6,200 or so athletes who had already punched their ticket for Tokyo would keep their spots for the rescheduled Games next year. The decision, agreed to by all of the international sports organizations, resolves one of the key questions for marathoners, open-water swimmers and hundreds of other athletes whose qualifying process came early in the sports calendar this year, before the coronavirus started shutting down sports across the globe. Still to be determined is how the 33 sports that make up the Olympics would allocate the rest of the spots at the rescheduled games.
GOLF
Fire destroys Love’s home
Two-time US Ryder Cup captain and 1997 PGA Championship winner Davis Love’s home was destroyed by fire yesterday, but there were no injuries in the early morning blaze. The 55-year-old resident of Saint Simons Island, Georgia — near the site of a PGA Tour event — revealed the incident in a Twitter post. “While everyone in our family is saddened at the loss of our home ... we’re very blessed that everyone is safe and unharmed,” Love said in a statement. “We’re keeping things in perspective as people across our community and around the world are struggling with the current unprecedented health crisis.” Love was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.
SOCCER
Dybala back in training
Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, one of the highest-profile players to be infected with COVID-19, has started training again after recovering from the illness. Dybala is one of three players at Juventus who have tested positive, alongside defender Daniele Rugani and midfielder Blaise Matuidi. Players at other Serie A clubs have also tested positive. “I’ve had strong symptoms, but I’m much better today,” Dybala, 26, told the Juventus television channel. “Now, I can move and walk and try to work out. A few days ago, when I tried to do those things, I was struggling for breath. My muscles ached.”
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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