BASEBALL
All-Star Game canned
MLB on Friday officially canceled this year’s All-Star Game, the first time since World War II that the mid-season showcase has been scrapped. The exhibition was scheduled for July 14 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and the MLB said that the Dodgers would now host instead in 2022. The 2021 edition has already been awarded to the Atlanta Braves. “Based on the health circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic that are beyond MLB’s control along with governmental directives prohibiting large gatherings, the league determined it is unable to conduct the All-Star Game and its week of surrounding fan activities this year,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
BADMINTON
Lin Dan retires
China’s two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan yesterday announced his retirement aged 36. It means that Lin, who won gold at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games, will not compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which have been pushed back to next summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lin, who had something of a “bad boy” reputation during his younger days and has several tattoos — unusual for a Chinese athlete — ends with 666 singles wins. “My family, coaches, teammates and fans have accompanied me through many peaks and difficult troughs,” he said on social media. “Every forceful jump was a desire for victory. I have dedicated everything to this sport I love.”
CRICKET
Players, board reach deal
Australia’s top players have reached agreement with Cricket Australia that it should postpone its assessment of future revenue during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement announced yesterday ended a one-month impasse that followed the national body’s projection last month of an almost 50 percent drop in revenue in the 2020-2021 financial year. Cricket Australia has now removed the forecast and the Australian Cricketers’ Association has withdrawn its dispute over the Australian Cricket Revenue forecast.
CYCLING
Quintana hit by car
Former Giro d’Italia winner Nairo Quintana said he had not sustained any serious injuries after being hit by a car during training in Colombia on Friday. The 30-year-old Colombian, who won the Giro in 2014, the Vuelta a Espana in 2016 and twice finished runner-up on the Tour de France, was knocked down by a car that overtook him and his support team. His Arkea-Samsic team feared a possible knee injury, but Quintana said he had grazed his left arm and hurt his right knee and left leg. “I want to let you know that I am good,” a smiling Quintana said in a video posted on Twitter.
RUGBY UNION
Carter plays club match
Former All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter gave himself a pass mark after his first game in New Zealand since 2015, but was not expecting to make a debut for the Auckland Blues next week against the Canterbury Crusaders. Carter joined the Blues last month for Super Rugby Aotearoa, but said he would need a few weeks to get up to speed and took his first tentative steps back yesterday, playing for boyhood club Southbridge in Canterbury. “If anyone saw that game today, I’d say myself that I’m a bit rusty,” Carter told reporters after he kicked six conversions and had a hand in two tries in Southbridge’s 54-14 victory over West Melton. “It’s good to make the first step in to potentially playing again.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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