■ BASEBALL
Hideki Matsui on the mend
Yankees left fielder Hideki Matsui has been slowed by neck stiffness and hoped to resume taking batting practice in Tampa, Florida, yesterday. Matsui hasn't hit since experiencing tightness in his neck while hitting on Sunday. "It's much better now," Matsui said through a translator on Tuesday. Matsui, recovering from right knee surgery in November, could make his Major League Baseball spring training debut next week. "The faster the better with the knee," Matsui said. "Probably another week or 10 days." Matsui expects to ready for opening day. "It's still not a setback," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I still expect him to play next week."
■ BASEBALL
League threatens boycott
The president of the Dominican Republic's baseball league said the nation will pull out of next year's World Baseball Classic (WBC) if it is not chosen as a host site. "If they do not give us the opportunity of being a host, like we have requested, the Dominican Republic will not participate," league president Leonardo Matos Berrido said at a news conference on Monday. The tournament is jointly run by US Major League Baseball and its players' union. Both declined comment. When the WBC began in 2006, the sites were Anaheim, California; Kissimmee, Florida; Phoenix; San Diego; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Tokyo. Tournament organizers have said next year's event will include the same 16 teams that contested the 2006 tournament, which was won by Japan.
■ SOCCER
Ramos gets off lightly
Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos was handed just a two-match ban despite one of the worst displays of abusing a referee in recent seasons, the Spanish soccer federation confirmed on Tuesday. Ramos turned on referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez after he received his second yellow card, and his marching orders, early in the second half during the Spanish league leaders' 3-2 win at Recreativo Huelva on Saturday. "Shit, you are a shit, you've been shit," yelled the Spanish international defender and he had to be restrained by his teammates from physically threatening Iturralde Gonzalez. However, Ramos and Real will consider they got off lightly. Most Spanish commentators were expecting between a three and six match ban for Ramos's astonishing display which was caught on camera by TV broadcasters.
■ RUGBY UNION
Argentina told to wait
Argentina, third at last year's Rugby World Cup, must wait at least four more years before they can join a major annual international tournament, an International Rugby Board (IRB) official said. The only top 10 nation not involved in either the Six Nations or Tri-nations, Argentina had long hoped to be included in the elite European tournament because the leading Pumas play their club rugby in the northern hemisphere. But Mark Egan, head of IRB Rugby Services, said in an interview that Argentina's likelier destination was the Tri-nations competition with world champions South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. "The natural fit is for Argentina, which lies in the south, to play in the southern hemisphere. Broadcast and commercial agreements really mean that the earliest mooted time would be post Rugby World Cup 2011. "It requires a transition period of planning and development and the first step is to increase the number of Tests the Pumas play while SANZAR reviews its tournament structures," he said.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
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