CRICKET
Flintoff steps down
Andrew Flintoff has stepped down as the coach of the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred, suggesting that he did not feel valued by the franchise’s new owners. The former England all-rounder coached the men’s team of the Headingley-based franchise in the past two editions of the tournament. Appearing on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, cohosted by Superchargers spinner Adil Rashid, Flintoff confirmed his talks with the Sun Group, which bought the full 100 percent stake in Superchargers in February, had broken down. “I genuinely don’t do it for the money, although it’s nice, but I’m worth more than just over a quarter of the [salary of] other head coaches,” the 47-year-old said. “I wasn’t encouraged they wanted me anyway, but then also you want to feel valued. So I said that it’s not going to work for me, and they weren’t going to move on it.” The BBC quoted a Sun Group spokesperson as saying: “We had discussions with Freddie and extended an offer, which was an increase over his current salary at Northern Superchargers. While we would have loved to have him on board, we respect his decision.” Flintoff, also the head coach of the England Lions, is tipped as a future coach for the England national team.
Photo: Reuters
SOCCER
Player breaks neck
Togo international Samuel Asamoah broke his neck after colliding with a pitch-side advertising board during a domestic fixture in China, his club said, fearing he might be left paralyzed. Video footage showed the 31-year-old being shoved by an opponent during a match on Sunday in China’s second-tier League One as they jostled for the ball, plowing head-first into an LED advertising panel. The midfielder’s club, Guangxi Pingguo, said that Asamoah sustained fractures in his neck and nerve damage, and subsequently underwent surgery. “He is at risk of high-level paraplegia and will miss all remaining games this season. His career may also be seriously affected,” the club said on Monday. On Wednesday the club said that Asamoah was recovering from surgery and was in a stable condition. “Guangxi Pingguo FC sincerely thanks all fans and all walks of life for their concern and support for Samuel Asamoah,” the team said. “His recovery progress will be announced in due course after follow-up examinations.” Asamoah spent most of his career in Belgium before moving to China last year. He has played six times for Togo, according to statistics Web site transfermarkt.com. Citing Chinese soccer authorities, The Paper reported that the advertising display was positioned 3m from the field in line with international standards. The opposition player, Chongqing Tonglianglong midfielder Zhang Zhixiong, was given a yellow card following the incident.
Jesper Boqvist on Tuesday scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period as the Florida Panthers, after raising their second straight NHL Stanley Cup banner, opened the defense of the title by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Mackie Samoskevich — getting his second assist, the fifth two-point game of his career — chipped the puck toward the goal and Boqvist knocked it out of the air for the lead with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left. A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also had goals for Florida, who got 17 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist and Teuvo
World No. 3 Alexander Zverev on Monday said that he was playing “terrible tennis” after he was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. His exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player, increasing the 38-year-old Serb’s chances of winning a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub. In stifling conditions, world No. 54 Rinderknech came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission. It is the second time the Frenchman has beaten him, after bundling him out of Wimbledon earlier this year. A despondent Zverev told reporters the match had
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
‘IT’S BASEBALL’: In just the second error to end a post-season series in the MLB, the Phillies reliever fumbled a comebacker and threw to home, despite the signal Eyes red, Orion Kerkering on Thursday received words of support from his Philadelphia Phillies teammates. “Just keep your head up. It’s an honest mistake. Just, it’s baseball,” he remembered hearing. “You’ll be good for a long time to come,” they added. “It’s not my fault, then. We had opportunities to score,” was the message he kept getting. Kerkering made a wild throw past home plate instead of tossing to first after mishandling Andy Pages’ bases-loaded comebacker with two outs in the 11th inning. Pinch-runner Kim Hye-seong scored and the Phillies were eliminated with a 2-1 loss that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a
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