ATHLETICS
Kansas wins pancake race
A woman from Liberal, Kansas, is this year’s champion of the traditional Pancake Day Race against the women in Olney, England. Whitney Hay on Tuesday won the US leg of the race in Liberal in 1 minute, 7 seconds, KSNW-TV reported. That beat Katie Godof of Olney, who ran her race in 1 minute, 10 seconds. The race returned after a hiatus last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hay, a 21-year-old college student, also won the Liberal race in 2020, but lost to Olney that year. Contestants must carry a pancake in a frying pan and flip it at the beginning and end of the 380m race. The event began in Olney in the 15th century. In 1950, Liberal challenged Olney to an international competition.
SOCCER
Vardy inspires 2-0 win
Leicester City dented Burnley’s bid to avoid relegation from the English Premier League as Jamie Vardy returned from injury to inspire a 2-0 win at Turf Moor on Tuesday. Manager Brendan Rodgers’ side stole the points with two goals in the last eight minutes, as Vardy set up James Maddison and then netted himself. “It has been a long time coming. It’s tough getting a big injury. To come back and to be involved in both goals and get the win, it’s very good,” Vardy said after scoring his first goal since December last year.
TENNIS
Djokovic, coach part ways
Novak Djokovic’s turbulent start to the year took another twist yesterday as the 20-time Grand Slam champion revealed that he had split from his long-time coach Marian Vajda after last year’s ATP Finals. “Marian has been by my side during the most important and memorable moments in my career,” Djokovic said on his Web site. “Together we have achieved some incredible things and I am very grateful for his friendship and dedication over the last 15 years.” Djokovic began working with the Slovakian coach when he was a teenager in 2006.
BOXING
April fight may be Fury’s last
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on Tuesday hinted at retirement, but said he is “supremely confident” of defeating Dillian Whyte when the two Britons meet in April with Fury’s title on the line. “I am very, very confident,” Fury told a news conference. “I am not down to earth — I am on top of it,” he said. Fury, who has suggested on multiple occasions that he could walk away from the sport, addressed his potential retirement in the news conference. “This could be the final fight of my career, I’m retiring after this,” he said. “US$150 million in the bank, healthy, young, I’m going to buy a massive yacht. I am going to sit back with a hot blonde and a pina colada thinking: ‘You know what, I made it.’”
BASEBALL
MLB cancels season start
MLB canceled the start of the regular season after it failed to reach a labor agreement with players by the league’s deadline on Tuesday, commissioner Rob Manfred said. The season was scheduled to begin with Opening Day on March 31. Players Association executive director Tony Clark said that the lockout the “ultimate economic weapon” to use against the players. “In a US$10 billion industry, the owners have made a conscious decision to use this weapon against the greatest asset they have: the players,” Clark said.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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