ATHLETICS
Judge shelves drugs case
An Italian judge on Thursday shelved a criminal investigation into former Olympic race walking champion Alex Schwazer, citing evidence that his urine samples were altered. Schwazer was banned for eight years in 2016 after a retest of a doping sample showed positive traces of steroids. The Italian was forced to miss the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. However, Walter Pelino, the preliminary investigation judge in Bolzano, dismissed legal proceedings. “The preliminary investigation judge believes that it has been established with a high level of credibility that the urine samples taken from Alex Schwazer on Jan. 1, 2016, were altered with the aim of making them positive, and therefore obtaining the suspension and the discrediting of the athlete,” Pelino wrote in an 87-page document detailing the dismissal of the case. Pelino also strongly criticized the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and World Athletics, then known as the IAAF. “They operated in a totally self-referential manner, not tolerating outside checks to the point that they were producing false statements,” Pelino said. “There is strong evidence of the fact that in trying to impede the scrutiny of the so-called crime, a series of crimes were committed.” WADA said in a statement that it had “grave concern” with Pelino’s comments and that it would not rule out further court action.
SOCCER
Mbappe threat alleged
Agitated and in the heat of competition during a Champions League match, Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe possibly threatened Barcelona defender Jordi Alba. The Marca daily and other media have posted a video online of Mbappe apparently saying: “In the street, I’ll kill you.” The incident between the two players occurred during PSG’s 4-1 win against Barcelona on Tuesday. Alba moved toward Mbappe after the PSG forward pushed Barcelona defender Sergino Dest in front of goal while play was stopped in the first half. The players then started trash-talking. It is not totally clear in the video what Mbappe is saying, although it appears that the native French-speaker tried to say: “In the street, I’ll kill you” in Spanish.
BADMINTON
Qualification date moved
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) yesterday said that Tokyo Olympics hopefuls would have until June 15 to secure qualification for the Games after a number of World Tour events were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Malaysia Open, which was initially scheduled for March 31 to April 4, has been pushed back to May 25 to 30, while April’s Malaysia Masters has been postponed until further notice. The Singapore Open has also been pushed back by two months and will now be held from June 1 to 6. “In securing new dates for the Malaysia Open and Singapore Open, BWF confirms the Indonesia Masters 2021 and Indonesia Open 2021 have been postponed also,” it said in a statement. Rankings at the end of April should have been the cut-off to decide which players would be at the Tokyo Games, due to begin on July 23. However, the BWF’s Race to Tokyo standings are now to close on June 15, with the Singapore Open serving as the last tournament for qualification.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care