ATHLETICS
Iran sports boss quits
The head of Iran’s athletics federation resigned on Sunday over a sporting event featuring women without the mandatory headscarf, state media reported, as the country toughens enforcement of hijab rules. “Hashem Siami resigned from his post due to the controversies that arose from the endurance [running] race organized in Shiraz,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said. According to images from Friday’s competition published by Iranian media, some women were running without headscarves. Local organizers of the public event have also been summoned to provide “explanations,” the provincial prosecutor said in a statement on Sunday. Siami told IRNA that he was not involved in organizing the competition and that the unveiled athletes were not part of the national federation.
BASEBALL
Pitching legend Blue dies
Vida Blue, a hard-throwing left-hander who became one of baseball’s biggest draws in the early 1970s and helped lead the brash Oakland Athletics to three straight World Series titles before his career was derailed by drug problems, died on Saturday, the team said. He was 73. Blue died at a hospital in San Francisco of medical complications stemming from cancer, the team said. He had used a walking stick to assist his movement at a 50th anniversary of the 1973 A’s championship team on April 16. “He was engaging. He was personable. He was caring,” ex-teammate Reggie Jackson said on Sunday. “He was uncomfortable with the crowd.” Blue was voted the 1971 American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player (MVP) after going 24-8 with a 1.82 ERA and 301 strikeouts with 24 complete games, eight of them shutouts. He was 22 at when he won MVP, the youngest to win the award. He remains among just 11 pitchers to win MVP and Cy Young in the same year.
SAILING
Australia win third title
Tom Slingsby and his Australian crew on Sunday clinched this season’s SailGP Championship in San Francisco Bay, notching up their third straight win, and with it another US$1 million prize. A dominant Australia held off a last-minute surge from runner-up Peter Burling’s New Zealand in the three-boat final, with Ben Ainslie’s Emirates Great Britain trailing in behind in what has been billed as sailing’s answer to Formula One. “We got ourselves right back in there at the end. We dug deep. We didn’t give up and we kept fighting, and I’m gutted to not pull it off, but you have to hand it to the Aussies, they are incredible,” Burling said.
GOLF
Thailand blank Australia
Thailand on Sunday captured the LPGA International Crown, blanking Australia 3-0 in the championship match to complete a near-perfect run in the global team event at Harding Park in San Francisco. Patty Tavatanakit defeated Hannah Green 4&3 and Atthaya Thitikul beat Stephanie Kyriacou 4&2 in singles to clinch the trophy before Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn downed Minjee Lee and Sarah Kemp 4&3 in foursomes to complete the sweep. “It means a lot for all of us,” Thitikul said. “It’s incredible work we put in this week to get this trophy for our country.” She added: “We’re one of the best teams in the world and I think we can beat every team in the world.”
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
Caitlin Clark on Thursday walked into her new home arena with No. 22 shirts and jerseys peppered from floor to ceiling. She left as a first-time WNBA winner. A late-arriving, but louder-than-usual crowd roared during her official introduction to Fever fans and again when Clark made her first basket, a layup with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. The cheers grew when she completed a three-point play a few minutes later and hit a crescendo when she finally made a long three-pointer from the edge of the fieldhouse logo late in the third quarter. Clark successfully navigated the city’s most anticipated rookie
Novak Djokovic on Sunday described his shock third-round elimination from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia by Alejandro Tabilo as “concerning,” two days after he was hit on the head by a bottle, which he said has caused nausea and dizzy spells. Djokovic’s bid for a record-extending 41st Masters 1000 title was ended in just more than an hour by Chilean Tabilo, who is ranked 32nd in the world and claimed his first win over a top-10 opponent, 6-2, 6-3. The 24-time Grand Slam winner said that his subdued performance on a court where he has won six titles might have been due to
TO REAL MADRID? Kylian Mbappe informed PSG privately in February of his intention to depart when his contract expires, but this was the first time he acknowledged it publicly French soccer player Kylian Mbappe on Friday confirmed that he is to leave French champions Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season, with Real Madrid widely expected to be his next destination. The announcement brings an end to a prolific association with his hometown team, which began when he signed from AS Monaco in 2017 in a deal worth 180 million euros (US$194 million). “I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris Saint-Germain. I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks,” Mbappe, 25, said in a video