ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, APRIL 23-24, 2021 SPORTS 15

Olympic bodies launch competitive series in virtual sports Tokyo Olympics torch relay has fi rst positive COVID-19 case TOKYO, April 22, (AP): Tokyo Olympics organizers said Thursday that a policeman tested positive for COVID-19 a day after his assignment US women to face Sweden in group stage in Olympic soccer last week at the Olympic torch relay. It is the fi rst positive test connected to ZURICH, April 22, (AP): The United Defending champion Germany medalist Germany in Group D on the relay since it began March 25 from States will open the women’s Olym- did not qualify. July 22, one day before the opening northeastern Fukushima prefecture. pic soccer tournament on July 21 Host nation Japan was put into ceremony. The group also includes Organizers say the policeman, who against Sweden, the team that beat Group E with 2016 bronze medal- Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia. is in his 30s, was assigned to control the World Cup champion Ameri- ist Canada, Britain and Chile. The Japan’s men’s team was drawn traffi c on the April 17 leg in south- cans in the quarterfi nals at the 2016 into Group A with South Africa, western Kagawa prefecture. They said Rio de Janeiro Games. Mexico and France, while Spain the offi cer developed symptoms and The two teams were drawn into SOCCER will face Argentina, Australia and tested positive the next day. Local Group G on Wednesday and will Egypt in Group C. South Korea will health authorities are investigating. also play Australia and New Zea- Netherlands, which reached the take on New Zealand, Romania and Offi cials say the policeman was land at the Tokyo Games. The Oce- 2019 World Cup fi nal, will face Bra- Honduras in Group B. wearing a mask and taking social-dis- ania neighbors will also play on July zil, China and Zambia in Group F. The men’s tournament is for un- tancing precautions and other measures. 21, two days before the Olympics In the men’s tournament, Olym- der-23 players, but teams can se- offi cially open. pic champion Brazil will face silver lect three overage players. OLYMPICS ing, but a “proportionate” range of low athletes to wear apparel showing Also: punishments will be drafted before the phrases such as “Black Lives Matter,” LAUSANNE, Switzerland: A competi- The report comes as Japan is pre- games, said Kirsty Coventry, who rep- the language is more limited in the IOC paring to declare a third state of tive virtual sports event was launched emergency in western metropolitan resents athletes on the IOC executive guidance published Wednesday. Thursday by the International Olympic areas around Osaka, and in Tokyo. It board. Approved words on T-shirts and Committee. is expected on Friday and is being re- Smith and Carlos were both expelled elsewhere in Tokyo are “peace, re- The Olympic Virtual Series will from the 1968 Olympics after their sa- spect, solidarity, inclusion and equal- instated after current measures failed Organizers hold signs to spectators that read: ‘Avoid crowding! Wear include fi ve sports - baseball, cycling, to slow the latest resurgence fueled by lute. ity,” the IOC said. auto racing, rowing and sailing - and masks’ during the Tokyo Olympic torch relay in Tobe, Ehime prefecture, Upholding Rule 50 of the Olympic Coventry, a former Olympic swim- a new, more contagious variant of the southwestern Japan, on April 22. (AP) runs from May 13 to June 23. The To- virus detected earlier in Britain. Charter, which prohibits any “demon- ming champion who is now sports kyo Olympics open on July 23. Japan had 541,496 cases and 9,710 the scheduled opening ceremony. Smith and John Carlos famously did stration or political, religious or racial minister in Zimbabwe, said the survey Gaming brands involved in the pro- deaths as of Tuesday. These results For precautions, legs last week at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics - or propaganda” at the games, puts the and research conducted by the IOC ject include Gran Turismo, Zwift and IOC at odds with Olympic offi cials in Athletes’ Commission was guided by are good by global standard but poor were run in a city park in Osaka and taking a knee would still risk punish- eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020. the United States. independent experts on human rights in Asia. Without compulsory lock- taken off the public streets. Something ment at the Tokyo Games this year. “(The series) will mobilize virtual downs, people in Japan have become The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic and social sciences. sport, esports and gaming enthusiasts similar is expected for some legs on The IOC said it surveyed more than Committee said in December it will not The IOC research consulted offi - less cooperative with preventive May 1-2 on the southern island of Ok- 3,500 athletes over the past year and all around the world in order to reach take action if athletes raise their fi sts cially recognized athlete panels from new Olympic audiences,” the IOC said measures. inawa. that 70% said it was “not appropriate The organizers said all participants or kneel during the national anthem at national Olympic committees and in a statement. and offi cials are taking the best pre- Meanwhile, Athlete protests and po- to demonstrate or express their views” their event trials before Tokyo. sports governing bodies - a process Details of prizes offered in some cautions and that the case will not af- litical messages will remain banned at on the fi eld of play or at the opening or The American Olympic body, which that restricted input from activist ath- events are being fi nalized, the IOC said. fect the subsequent legs of the torch the Olympics, the IOC said Wednes- closing ceremony. inducted Smith and Carlos into its Hall letes. The Olympic body is hoping to reach events. day, after a survey found that a ma- The survey also showed 67% of of Fame in 2019, eased its stance after Other concessions agreed Wednes- more young people with a strategy for The torch relay involves 10,000 jority of competitors were in favor of respondents disapproved of podium athletes asked for the right to express day include adding references to “in- virtual sports and gaming and said the runners crisscrossing Japan for four keeping the ban in place. demonstrations. themselves on racial and social justice clusion and equality” in the Olympic series “allows participants around the month, ending at the arrival at the Na- That means raising a fi st on the podi- The IOC has not said what conse- issues. Oath read at the opening ceremony in world to compete from home or their tional Stadium on July 23 to kick off um - like American sprinters Tommie quences athletes may face for protest- While the USOPC guidelines al- Tokyo on July 23. training facilities.” Golden Knights clinch playoff spot with 8th straight victory Kripizov, Talbot lead Wild past Coyotes for 5th win in a row

LAS VEGAS, April 22, (AP): Jonathan Marches- sault scored twice and the Vegas Golden Knights de- Arizona Coyotes right wing Clayton Keller (9) tries to control the puck as Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) defends during the third pe- feated the San Jose Sharks riod of an NHL hockey game, on April 21, in Glendale, Arizona. (AP) 5-2 for their eighth straight win. Vegas, which leads the NHL with 33 wins and 68 points, be- came the fi rst team in the NHL to clinch a playoff berth. The Golden Knights improved to 15- 1-3 all-time against the Sharks in regu- lar-season meetings - including a perfect 7-0-0 this season. Vegas also improved to 18-4-2 at home this season. Mark Stone Alex Tuch, and Mattias Janmark also scored for Vegas. Marc- Andre Fleury made 31 saves to im- prove to 5-0-0 against the Sharks this season and 7-0-1 in his last eight. Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose, which is now mired in a 0-6-1 slide. Josef Korenar made 35 saves. Two nights after Patrick Marleau appeared in his record-breaking 1,768th France’s Julian Alaphilippe of the Deceuninck Quick-Step team sprints to career NHL game to pass Gordie Howe for all-time games played, he skated in the fi nish line to win the Belgian cycling classic and UCI World Tour race Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier (28) attempts a shot on San Jose Sharks goaltender Josef Korenar Fleche Wallonne, in Huy, Belgium, on April 21. (AP) his 900th consecutive game, becoming the fourth player ever to do so. (32) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, on April 21, in Las Vegas. (AP) Van der Breggen wins women’s race ICE HOCKEY NHL Results/Standings The Sharks took a 2-1 lead just past Alaphilippe earns his third midway through the second period be- fore the Golden Knights scored four WASHINGTON, April 22, (AP): Results and standings from the NHL games on Wednesday. unanswered goals. Chicago 5 Nashville OT 4 Vegas 5 San Jose 2 victory in Flèche Wallonne On the power play, Pacioretty fed Minnesota 4 Arizona 1 Montreal 4 Edmonton 3 Stone, who wrapped the puck around East Division West Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA GP W L OT Pts GF GA HUY, Belgium, April 22, (AP): Julian Korenar to knot the score 2-all with Washington 46 29 13 4 62 163 141 x-Vegas 46 33 11 2 68 155 102 Alaphilippe earned his third victory in 7:08 left in the period. It was Stone’s NY Islanders 46 29 13 4 62 133 106 Colorado 43 30 9 4 64 154 101 the Flèche Wallonne one-day classic, Pakistan hold on team-leading sixth power-play goal of Pittsburgh 46 29 14 3 61 159 132 Minnesota 45 29 13 3 61 141 118 Boston 44 26 12 6 58 127 110 Arizona 47 20 22 5 45 124 150 overtaking Spanish Vuelta champion the season, while Pacioretty became NY Rangers 46 23 17 6 52 152 124 the 10th active U.S.-born player to col- St Louis 43 19 18 6 44 124 135 Primoz Roglic on the fi nal ascent to to win Twenty20 Philadelphia 45 20 18 7 47 128 162 San Jose 46 18 23 5 41 122 157 the fi nish line. lect 600 career points. New Jersey 45 14 25 6 34 115 157 Los Angeles 43 17 20 6 40 118 128 Buffalo 46 12 27 7 31 111 156 Tuch blasted home the go-ahead Anaheim 47 14 26 7 35 104 151 Roglic, the Tour de France runner- HARARE, Zimbabwe, April 22, Central Division up, attacked up the grueling Mur de (AP): Pakistan held on to win the goal with 50 seconds left in the second, GP W L OT Pts GF GA North Division Huy about 350 meters out but couldn’t first T20 against Zimbabwe by giving Vegas its fi rst lead of the game. Carolina 45 30 10 5 65 146 108 GP W L OT Pts GF GA Florida 47 30 12 5 65 152 126 Toronto 46 28 13 5 61 150 126 hold off the 28-year-old Frenchman, managing to defend a modest to- Marchessault netted his second Winnipeg 45 27 15 3 57 144 120 goal and third point of the night when Tampa Bay 46 30 14 2 62 153 121 who also won in 2018 and ‘19. tal of 149-7. Nashville 48 25 21 2 52 130 137 Edmonton 45 27 16 2 56 144 125 The Deceuninck-Quick Step rider Zimbabwe only got 138-7 in he beat Korenar short side, extending Dallas 45 19 14 12 50 130 113 Montreal 44 20 15 9 49 130 126 Vegas’ lead to 4-2 with 6:42 left in the Chicago 47 22 20 5 49 134 148 Calgary 45 19 23 3 41 118 133 fi nished the 194-kilometer (120-mile) reply after Usman Qadir’s 3-29 Detroit 48 16 25 7 39 107 153 Vancouver 39 18 18 3 39 109 125 course in 4 hours, 36 minutes, 25 sec- game. Janmark, who was acquired from Columbus 48 15 24 9 39 117 163 Ottawa 46 16 26 4 36 126 166 onds. Roglic was credited with the Note: Two points for a win one point for overtime loss. The top four teams in each division will qualify for playoffs under this Chicago at the trade deadline, scored same time and fi ve-time winner Ale- CRICKET season’s temporary realignment. jandro Valverde of Spain was third, an empty-netter for his fi rst as a Golden x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division z-clinched conference Knight with 56 seconds to go. six seconds back. thwarted the home team at Harare Wild 4, Coyotes 1 Alaphilippe, the world champion, Sports Club and gave Pakistan an In Glendale, Arizona, Kirill Krip- bot stopped 39 shots and the Wild beat The Wild withstood a big initial The Blackhawks trailed 4-1 after Luke wagged his fi nger and smiled after 11-run victory. izov scored a dazzling goal to break Arizona to stretch their winning streak fl urry by Arizona and an early goal by Kunin scored 58 seconds into the third. edging the Slovenian at the fi nish of Opener Mohammad Rizwan Minnesota’s rookie record, Cam Tal- to fi ve games. Christian Dvorak in a tight-checking Mikael Granlund had a goal and an the 85th edition of the race. Other batted through the Pakistan in- game. Kevin Fiala and Marcus Foligno assist for the Predators, Eeli Tolvanen three-time winners include Belgian nings for his 82 not out from 61 each scored to put the Wild up, then and Colton Sissons also scored, and great Eddy Merckx. balls. The next best score was 15 Kiprizov deked goalie Darcy Kuem- Juuse Saros made 25 saves. from Danish Aziz on his T20 de- per out of the crease and scored on a The teams meet again in Chicago on CYCLING but. wraparound. Friday night. It was Kiprizov’s 19th goal, breaking Canadiens 4, Oilers 3 of a breakaway group with only 1.5 Marian Gaborik’s rookie record. In Edmonton, Alberta, Josh Ander- “It’s the legs that make the dif- kilometers left when French rider Talbot made some big saves down son had two goals, and the Canadiens ference on this hard climb,” said Maurits Lammertink was caught at the the stretch, and Nico Sturm added an beat the Oilers to split a two-game se- Alaphilippe, who will now prepare bottom of the Mur de Huy. empty-net goal to give Minnesota a ries. for the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race on Before the race, Tour de France 16-point cushion over the Coyotes for Tyler Toffoli and Artturi Lehkonen Sunday. “It wasn’t easy with Roglic champion Tadej Pogacar and defend- third in the West Division. also scored for Montreal (20-15-9). out front and Valverde on my wheel. ing champion Marc Hirschi were last- The Coyotes dominated early, but Jake Allen made 22 saves as the Cana- Both were very strong but I managed minute withdrawals after their UAE couldn’t get anything else past Talbot diens picked up just their third win in to pull it off.” Team Emirates team had two positive in losing for the seventh time in eight nine games. Roglic, making his Flèche Wal- coronavirus tests, even though the games. Montreal moved eight points clear of lonne debut, defl ected questions about team was previously vaccinated. Blackhawks 5, Predators 4, OT Calgary for the North Division’s fourth whether he attacked too early. In the women’s race, world champi- In Chicago, Brandon Hagel scored and fi nal playoff spot. “Too early or too late - at the end on Anna van der Breggen won for the three minutes into overtime to lift Chi- Connor McDavid had a goal and two I was not strong enough. Julian was seventh straight time by outclimbing cago past Nashville. assists for Edmonton (27-16-2). Ryan stronger today,” he said. “I did my Kasia Niewiadoma on the fi nal ascent. Hagel also had two assists to help Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi best. He was strongest and deserves to “I think it was the most diffi cult one. First place, Netherland’s Anna Van der Breggen of the SD Worx team, Chicago beat Nashville for the fi rst also scored, and Mike Smith made 27 win.” I’m really happy to fi nish it off like center, celebrates on the podium with second place, Poland’s Katarzyna time in seven games this season. Pius saves. Valverde, who turns 41 on Sunday, that,” the 31-year-old Dutch rider said. Niewiadoma of the Canyon SRAM racing team, and third place, Italy’s Elisa Suter and Vinnie Hinostroza each had The Oilers, who beat Montreal 4-1 said he was “happy to have fi nished on Last year’s Flèche Wallonne was Longo Longo Borghini of the Trek Segafredo team during the Women’s a goal and an assist, Wyatt Kalynuk on Monday and had won eight straight the podium.” pushed back to September because of Belgian cycling classic and UCI World Tour race Fleche Wallonne, in Huy, and Dominik Kubalik added goals, at home, missed a chance to pass Win- The peloton swallowed up the last the coronavirus pandemic. Belgium, on April 21. (AP) and Malcolm Subban made 35 saves. nipeg for second in the standings.