■TENNIS
Vinci beats second seed
Defending champion Roberta Vinci of Italy defeated second seed Aravane Rezai of France 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Barcelona Ladies Open on Tuesday. Top-seeded Francesca Schiavone beat fellow Italian Alberta Brianti 6-2, 6-1 on the rain-affected outdoor clay courts of the David Lloyd Club Turo. Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez dispatched Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-4, justifying her third seeding while fourth seed and 2008 champion Maria Kirilenko defeated Masa Zec Peskiric of Slovenia 7-5, 6-1.
■SOCCER
Indian star makes debut
India’s Sunil Chhetri made his Wizards debut in a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids in a US Open Cup qualifier on Tuesday, a day after his visa and international transfer certificate were cleared. Chhetri, the first Indian national on a Major League Soccer team, started and played the first half for Kansas City. He agreed to terms on March 25 and was added to the 24-man Wizards squad on Monday. Teal Bunbury opened the scoring for the Wizards in the fourth minute but Wells Thompson scored in the 24th and 80th minutes to secure the win for the visiting team. The Indian international is one of the most popular players in his home country. The Wizards’ Facebook page has added more than 6,000 fans since Chhetri signed and nearly every move he’s made has been on news pages in India. Chhetri had a decent scoring chance stopped early and received yellow card in the 20th minute for taking down Thompson from behind. He was replaced by Kei Kamara in the second half.
■SOCCER
Monaco reach Cup final
Substitute Moussa Maazou struck in extra time to lift Monaco to a 1-0 win over RC Lens on Tuesday and a place in the French Cup final. Striker Maazou headed home with 10 minutes left in the extra period after Lens had dominated an entertaining game at the Stade Louis II. Monaco will face amateurs Quevilly or Paris St Germain, who played yesterday, in the final. Lens were more aggressive in midfield but failed to convert two clear chances before the break through Kanga Akale. The winger missed the target after breaking down the left flank in the sixth minute. Shortly after the half hour, Akale collected a defense-splitting pass from Yohan Demont but was denied from close range by Monaco goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier. Monaco earned a penalty 10 minutes into the second half when Alejandro Alonso was brought down in the box by goalkeeper Vedran Runje. Nene converted it but, with a few players in the box when he took his shot, referee Stephane Bre asked for the spot kick to be retaken and the striker skied his second attempt. With the match into extra time, Lens midfielder Sebastien Roudet had a clear chance in the 98th minute but his header was parried away by Ruffier. A minute later, Maazou replaced Alonso and immediately made his presence felt when he headed home a Nene cross.
■SOCCER
Benfica win Lisbon derby
Second-half goals from Oscar Cardozo and Pablo Aimar gave Benfica a 2-0 win over Sporting Lisbon and put the Eagles six points clear at the top of the Portuguese league. Striker Cardozo, the league’s top scorer with 21 goals, deflected in a Fabio Coentrao shot after 68 minutes in the Lisbon derby on Tuesday. Playmaker Aimar scored on a break 10 minutes later. Benfica are unbeaten at home this season and with six games to play have 67 points. Braga are second on 61 and Porto third on 56. Sporting have 41 points in fourth.
■SOCCER
Cagliari sack ‘Coach of Year’
Massimiliano Allegri became the 16th coaching change of the season in Serie A’s 20-team league as he was fired by Cagliari on Tuesday only two months after he had been voted coach of the 2008-2009 season by his peers. Allegri has been replaced by youth team coach Giorgio Melis. The 42-year-old — who received 40 percent of the vote from his fellow coaches for the award — was almost two years into a three-year contract and was seen as one of the bright young prospects in Italy’s top flight. In his first Serie A job, he guided Cagliari to an impressive ninth place finish last season and for large parts of this term they were challenging for European qualification. But they had not won in their last nine games and Cagliari released a brief statement thanking him for his work and wishing him the best in the future.
■SOCCER
Paraguay coach unrepentant
Paraguay’s Argentine coach Gerardo Martino is unrepentant over his penchant for picking naturalized compatriots for the team he is preparing for the World Cup finals. Buenos Aires-born striker Lucas Barrios is the latest to take Paraguayan citizenship through his mother, with Martino suggesting the Borussia Dortmund player could be in his World Cup squad. Paraguayans have questioned Martino’s use of players born in neighboring Argentina, though the coach was adamant he would continue the policy. “It doesn’t seem logical to me to miss out on an important player,” Martino told the Cardinal radio station in Asuncion on Tuesday. “The people will hang me for losing, not for nationalizing [players].” Midfielders Jonathan Santana and Nestor Ortigoza have played for the team and Jonathan Fabbro of local side Guarani has also taken Paraguayan nationality.
■SOCCER
Twente suffer second defeat
An own goal by defender Peter Wisgerhof condemned Twente Enschede to only their second defeat of the season, the Dutch league leaders going down 1-0 to AZ Alkmaar on Tuesday. At the other end of the table RKC Waalwijk were relegated after suffering their 27th defeat of the season, losing 4-1 at Heracles Almelo, with Brazilian Everton scoring twice. With two matches remaining Twente top the standings with 80 points. Second-placed Ajax were aiming to reduce the gap to one point when they visited Willem II Tilburg yesterday. Wisgerhof found his own net in the eighth minute to put Alkmaar ahead and although Steve McClaren’s side dominated the second half they were unable to find an equalizer. Twente were unlucky to be denied a penalty despite an obvious handball from defender Simon Poulsen while he was trying to block striker Blaise Nkufo’s header.
■CRICKET
Windies crush Canada
A fine knock by veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul saw hosts West Indies romp to a 208-run victory over Canada in their one-day international in Kingston on Tuesday. The 35-year-old hit 101 off 120 balls including six fours and a six as West Indies racked up 316 for 4 off their 50 overs. Dwayne Bravo contributed 74 off 75 balls including two sixes whilst the match featured the return of class batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan for the first time since he returned home from the tour of Australia late last year with a back problem. Sarwan showed he was in good order as he hit a quickfire unbeaten 47 off 26 balls with six boundaries including a six. Canada were never in the hunt with just Umar Bhatti putting up much resistance with 32 not out — Nikita Miller returning the best figures for the West Indies of 3-15.
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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