SWIMMING
Sun Yang’s ban expires
Disgraced three-time Olympic champion Sun Yang hopes to return to competitive swimming “as soon as possible” after his more than four-year ban for doping ended yesterday. The Chinese freestyler was originally suspended for eight years by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 2020 for smashing vials of blood during a 2018 test, the circumstances of which he still disputes. The ban was reduced on appeal to four years and three months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2021. “I hope that I’ll be able to pick a competition and return to the starting block as soon as possible,” the 32-year-old said in an interview published by state-run news site The Paper. Sun’s return comes with China’s swimmers under intense scrutiny since it emerged that WADA allowed 23 of them to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, despite testing positive for a banned substance.
SOCCER
Ronaldo breaks record
Cristiano Ronaldo on Monday broke the record for the most goals in a Saudi Pro League season when he struck for the 34th and 35th time in Al Nassr’s final game of the campaign. “I don’t follow the records, the records follow me,” the 39-year-old Portuguese forward wrote on X afterward. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star struck in first-half stoppage-time and again in the 69th minute with a header as Al Nassr defeated Al-Ittihad 4-2 at home.
BASKETBALL
NBA legend Bill Walton dies
Bill Walton, the former NBA Most Valuable Player, two-time champion and popular television commentator, died on Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer. After a stellar college career, Walton won his first NBA championship with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977 and was named the league’s MVP the following year. He did a spell with the Los Clippers, in San Diego and Los Angeles, then moved to the Boston Celtics where he won a second title in 1986. After his playing career ended, Walton became a popular commentator for college and NBA basketball broadcasts. “Bill Walton was truly one of a kind. As a Hall of Fame player, he redefined the center position. His unique all-around skills made him a dominant force at UCLA and led to an NBA regular-season and Finals MVP, two NBA championships and a spot on the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.
CRICKET
Aussie joins Italy for brother
Former Australia Test opener Joe Burns has switched allegiance to Italy to help the Europeans qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup as a tribute to his late brother. Burns, who played 23 Tests from 2014 to 2020, has been mourning his brother’s death in February. Burns wrote about his grief in a social media post with a picture of a blue Italy shirt with the No. 85 his brother wore at his amateur cricket club in Queensland. “While a part of my soul feels like it will always be missing, I know this shirt will carry on his spirit and give me strength,” Burns said. “I often reflect on the bravery and commitment it must have taken my grandparents when they left Italy to start a new life in Australia. They found a way to make it work through adversity and this has always given me solace through life’s lessons.”
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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