■BASKETBALL
Players to visit Kaohsiung
Reigning dunk champion Nate Robinson will head a group of eight NBA players who will take part in a dunk competition in Kaohsiung in late August, organizers said on Thursday. The competition will be the first time an NBA dunk contest has been held in Taiwan, said Chen Han-chuan, marketing manager of Bros Sports, the sports marketing company that organized the first NBA exhibition game in Taiwan in October last year. Robinson, who plays for the Boston Celtics, is the first three-time dunk contest winner in NBA history. He will meet a pair of semi-finalists at this year’s NBA dunk competition in Kaohsiung — Demar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors and Shannon Brown of the Los Angeles Lakers. The other participants will be Nick Young of the Washington Wizards, Will Bynum of the Detroit Pistons, Dahntay Jones of the Indiana Pacers, Carl Landry of the Sacramento Kings and Terrence Williams of the New Jersey Nets.
■ICE HOCKEY
Hart Trophy finalists named
Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin will have to settle their simmering rivalry at the ballot box instead of on the ice. The Pittsburgh Penguins star and his Washington Capitals counterpart joined Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday as finalists for the Hart Trophy, given to the NHL’s Most Valuable Player. The winner will be announced on June 23 in Las Vegas. Crosby and Ovechkin have traded verbal jabs — and some real ones — over the past few years as they combined to win three consecutive Hart Trophies. The last two have gone to Ovechkin, who has made a name for himself as perhaps the most dynamic goalscorer since Wayne Gretzky, winner of a record eight straight awards from 1980 to 1987. Their teams were expected to meet in the Eastern Conference semi-finals and Crosby did his part by helping Pittsburgh defeat the Ottawa Senators in six games, but the Capitals blew a 3-1 lead against the Montreal Canadiens and were eliminated in Game 7 on Wednesday.
■ICE HOCKEY
Czechs beat Swedes
Goalkeeper Ondrej Pavelec stopped all three of Sweden’s shootout tries and secured victory for the Czech Republic in the opening round of the four-nation Sweden Hockey Games on Thursday. The teams were 1-1 going into the shootout. Pavelec, a goalie for the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, finished with 29 saves, while Jakub Klepis scored the only goal in the shootout. Lukas Kaspar, for the Czechs, and Sweden’s Victor Hedman scored in regulation. In Finland, teenager Mikael Granlund finished another first-day shootout with an artistic move in his senior debut to lead the hosts past Russia 5-4 in the opening game. The teams were 4-4 after regulation time and overtime.
■BASKETBALL
China hires Donewald Jr
Bob Donewald Jr of the US accepted one of the toughest jobs in Chinese sport yesterday when he was named head coach of the national basketball team. The former assistant coach of New Orleans Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA led the Shanghai Sharks to the final four of the domestic league in his first season, after being hired by club owner and NBA All-Star Yao Ming. “There will be setbacks and difficulties, but I believe I can overcome them,” he told a news conference. “I am excited.” Donewald’s predecessor Guo Shiqiang, pilloried after a humiliating performance at the Asian championships last year, will be retained as an assistant coach.
■SOCCER
Bayern appeal Ribery ban
Bayern Munich are appealing Franck Ribery’s three-match ban which would see him miss this month’s Champions League final, UEFA confirmed on Thursday. The Frenchman was shown a straight red card for treading on the foot of Lyon striker Lisandro Lopez in the first-leg semi-final, which Bayern won 1-0 in Munich. He then missed Tuesday’s 3-0 second-leg win while serving part of the ban. UEFA’s decision means he will miss the final in Madrid on May 22 against Italian side Inter. The appeal date has not yet been fixed.
■SOCCER
Helsingborg stay unbeaten
Helsingborg remain unbeaten in the Swedish league after Mattias Lindstrom’s first-half goal secured a 1-0 win over defending champions AIK on Thursday. After nine rounds, Helsingborg are five points clear of Malmo FF, and another five ahead of third-placed Elfsborg. Malmo beat IFK Goteborg 2-0 away, with goals from Daniel Larsson and Guillermo Molins, while Johan Larsson scored in Elfsborg’s 1-0 win over Brommapojkarna. Newcomers Atvidaberg jumped two places at the bottom of the table after beating Trelleborg 3-0 and Djurgarden scored late to clinch a 1-0 win against Mjallby. On Wednesday, Icelandic midfielder Eyjolfur Hedinsson scored twice as GAIS beat Hacken 2-0, Kalmar crushed Orebro 4-1 and Anselmo headed in the winner as Halmstad beat Gefle 1-0.
■SNOOKER
Robertson opens up lead
Neil Robertson, bidding to become Australia’s first world championship finalist in 35 years, opened up a 6-2 lead over England’s Ali Carter in the semi-finals on Thursday. The 28-year-old Robertson made the most of having finished his quarter-final on Wednesday afternoon, while Carter completed a marathon win over Shaun Murphy in a final-frame, late-night thriller. Carter got to sleep at 3.30am and when he arrived at the Crucible for his 2pm start against Robertson the 30-year-old’s start to the best-of-33-frame semi-final was sluggish and he quickly slipped 4-0 down. Eddie Charlton was Australia’s last World Championship finalist in 1975 when the tournament was staged in Robertson’s home city, Melbourne. In the other semi-final, Scotland’s Graeme Dott was leading Mark Selby of England 5-3.
■BOXING
Arizona law angers WBC
The Mexico-based World Boxing Council (WBC) says it will not schedule any bouts featuring Mexican fighters in Arizona to protest what it called the state’s “shameful, inhuman and discriminatory” immigration law. Arizona has passed a new law that makes it a crime to be in the state illegally. WBC president Jose Sulaiman said the ban on Arizona fights involving Mexican fighters had also been approved by the Federation of Boxing Commissions of Mexico. The ban starts today. Critics fear the law will lead police to practice racial profiling, asking anyone who looks Mexican for their migration documents.
■MOTOGP
Rossi still suffering
World champion Valentino Rossi is still suffering back pain after a motocross accident last month and does not expect to be fully fit for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. “My back still hurts and tomorrow [Friday] we will see if I can stay on the bike. Definitely I will not be 100 percent,” the Italian told reporters. The Yamaha rider, who won the season-opening race in Qatar, could have missed the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend had it not been postponed.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
FINAL WEEK LOOMS: PSG rose to 22nd place to set up another tense challenge against 24th-placed Stuttgart, while Man City require victory against Club Brugge Manchester City are on the brink of a humiliating UEFA Champions League exit after a stunning loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, while Real Madrid is no longer at risk after routing Salzburg. Man City blew a two-goal lead in a high-stakes clash of super-wealthy underachievers that PSG won 4-2 in Paris, who could still be eliminated alongside the English champions after the final round of games next week. Only the top 24 in the 36-team standings are to advance. Man City, the 2023 champions, are in 25th place, but could squeeze into the knockout playoffs round by beating Club Brugge. “We will
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
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