■RUGBY UNION
Chiefs new Super 14 leaders
New Zealand’s Waikato Chiefs are the new Super 14 leaders after a comfortable win in South Africa, boosted by a second straight loss for the former front-running Coastal Sharks. The Chiefs powered to the top of the southern hemisphere provincial championship on points differential with a convincing 28-10 victory against the Central Cheetahs on Saturday. The Sharks relinquished top spot when they bumbled to a 13-10 loss at home to Canterbury Crusaders. The Chiefs maintained their free-flowing form to down the Cheetahs in Kimberley three tries to one, despite trailing 7-6 at half-time. The Crusaders climbed to eighth position and are just three points off the top four following their crucial win over the Sharks in Durban.
■TENNIS
Australia to appeal decision
Tennis Australia will appeal an International Tennis Federation (ITF) decision to allow its next Davis Cup match to be played in the Indian city of Chennai, despite ongoing security concerns by the Australians. The third-round Asia-Oceania Group 1 match is scheduled to take place from May 8 to May 10. In a statement released on the Davis Cup Web site on Friday, the ITF said Chennai was approved by the Davis Cup Committee following “a positive report from the ITF’s security consultants.” Australian tennis officials had sought a change of venue amid concerns about security for sports events on the Indian subcontinent, following a terror attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan last month. Lleyton Hewitt’s manager, David Drysdale, said yesterday that Australia’s most successful Davis Cup singles player was in Europe, awaiting the outcome of Tennis Australia’s appeal before making his next move.
■RUGBY UNION
Cardiff win Anglo-Welsh Cup
Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young believes his side’s Anglo-Welsh Cup final thrashing of Gloucester could help up to five of his leading players make the Lions squad that will tour South Africa in June. Cardiff scored seven tries to run out 50-12 winners at Twickenham on Saturday with Leigh Halfpenny and Ben Blair both touching down twice and Tom James, Ceri Sweeney and Tom Shanklin also on the scoresheet. “We didn’t think we’d score 50 points against a team like Gloucester. I’m very proud of the effort and the skills,” Young said. “The seasoned internationals really stood up and led us.” With the Lions squad due to be announced tomorrow, Young believes that Cardiff will be sending between three and five players to face the Springboks. “Tom Shanklin, Martyn Williams and Gethin Jenkins are dead certs,” he said. “Jamie Roberts has put his hand up and Leigh Halfpenny will be there or thereabouts.”
■TENNIS
Defending champ in final
Defending champion Maria Kirilenko of Russia was due to face Italian Roberta Vinci in the final of the Barcelona WTA claycourt event yesterday. Kirilenko, the world No.37 and sixth seed, overcame home favorite Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the US$220,000 tournament on Saturday. Both had played rain-delayed quarter-final matches earlier in the day, Kirilenko defeating Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, and Suarez Navarro easing past Germany’s Tatjana Malek 6-4, 6-0. Vinci, ranked 61, had a tough battle to defeat her compatriot Francesca Schiavone 0-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 to reach the final.
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
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
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
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