TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014 SPORTS

Veh to quit Eintracht Juve coach slams Prandelli Li too busy for IPTL GERMANY: Eintracht Frankfurt coach Armin Veh has decided against renewing his con- ITALY: Juventus coach Antonio Conte has complained about impo- HONG KONG: Australian Open champion Li Na yesterday defended her decision to tract with the Bundesliga club and will leave at the end of the season. lite behaviour by his Italy counterpart Cesare Prandelli after defend- skip the International Premier Tennis League, as she targets more Grand Slams and the “I told the team this morning,” he said at a news conference on Monday. “I can’t imag- er Giorgio Chiellini was called up for Wednesday’s friendly against world number one spot. The inaugural edition of the IPTL takes place later this year ine my departure will have a negative effect on the team.” Spain. Chiellini, one of seven Juventus players in the squad, has not with matches in Bangkok, Mumbai, Singapore and Dubai geared to raise the profile of Veh, 53, took over in 2011 and led Eintracht out of the second division at the first played for three weeks because of a calf muscle injury and the Serie the game across Asia and the Middle East. attempt. They finished sixth on their top flight return last season, qualify- A champions said that they had planned to continue with his recov- But the event, modelled on cricket’s financially successful Indian Premier League, ing for the Europa League. His side have struggled this season but ery this week. “I expected a least to get a call from Prandelli to ask has been dealt a blow by the absence of Asia’s top male and female players-Japan’s Kei hauled themselves six points clear of the relegation playoff me how he was,” Conte, whose side beat AC Milan 2-0 away on Nishikori and second-ranked Li. The Chinese star became Asia’s first Grand Slam win- place with a dramatic 2-1 win over VfB Stuttgart on Sunday. Sunday evening, told reporters. ner at the 2011 French Open and followed it up with a second major title Eintracht were knocked out of the Europa League by “I find this type of behavior to be not very polite and not very at Melbourne in January, propelling her to a career-high rankings Porto in the last 32 and suffered an embarrassing first- educated. We give so many players to the national team and then position. round elimination in the German Cup by second division they do this to you and I don’t think it’s fair.” Conte said the Chiellini Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) chief Stacey Erzgebirge Aue. was on the bench against AC Milan but there had been no intention Allaster has placed the 32-year-old at the head of a Chairman Heribert Bruchhagen said Veh made his of fielding him. “Chiellini has not played for three weeks, he started concerted push into Asia including multiple new tour- decision to quit during the winter training camp in training again on Friday and I brought him to Milan so he could naments in China and the end-of-season champi- January. “Armin Veh informed us in Abu Dhabi he would savour the pitch but I didn’t think of using him. “I dislike seeing him onships in Singapore. In September, Li’s home city of not be extending his contract,” explained Bruchhagen. called up and it annoys me, they ask us so often for co-operation Wuhan will host a new, premier-level competition, one of six “We are all determined to continue working successfully and we give them a lot, because we supply a lot of players,” he said. WTA events on Chinese soil this year. with Armin Veh until the end of June.” Veh, a former mid- General manager Giuseppe Marotta agreed that the call-up was But the current hottest property in women’s tennis fielder who previously coached Augsburg, Hamburg SV, unexpected. “We intended to get him fully recovered this week and appears to have no room in her tightly-packed calendar for VfL Wolfsburg and Stuttgart, said he kept quiet at the so we did not expect this,” he said. “I don’t want controversy, and I say November and December’s IPTL-the brainchild of Indian dou- club’s request. —Reuters this because he has not yet played for us since the injury.” —Reuters bles star Mahesh Bhupathi. —Reuters Senators down Canucks

VANCOUVER: Cody Ceci scored a second-peri- od goal as the Ottawa Senators downed the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 before a crowd of more than 50,000 Sunday in the Heritage Classic. The Senators posted their first win in three games and kept pace in the race for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. The Canucks suffered their ninth loss in 10 games and remained on the bubble in their quest for eighth place in the Western Conference. Clarke MacArthur, Erik Karlsson and Colin Greening - into an empty-net with 1:33 left in the game - also scored for Ottawa. The game was designed as a tribute to the 1915 Stanley Cup final series between the eventual-champion Vancouver Millionaires and Ottawa Senators. The Canucks wore maroon and cream-colored Millionaires replica jerseys while the Senators sported duds similar to those of their predecessors. Coaches wore varsity-styled jackets rather than their usual suits. The NHL’s outdoor series was forced to go indoors as the BC Place Stadium roof was closed due to rain.

FLYERS 5, CAPITALS 4 Vincent Lecavalier scored at 2:45 of over- time as the Philadelphia Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit for a victory over the Washington Capitals. Trailing 4-2 entering the third period, the Flyers started their comeback when Jakub Voracek scored a power-play goal at 11:58. The Flyers were given a five-minute advantage when Dmitry Orlov was given a major penalty for boarding Brayden Schenn at 9:33. Claude Giroux sent the game to overtime when he scored his second goal of the game with 65 seconds left in the third. Adam Hall also scored for the Flyers, Kimmo Timonen had three assists and Steve Mason made 25 saves. Orlov scored two goals and fellow defense- man Mike Green had three assists for Washington. Marcus Johansson and Jay Beagle also scored for the Capitals in a physical game. Zain sponsors Kuwaiti car Braden Holtby had 31 saves. SHARKS 4, DEVILS 2 racing champion Ashkanani Matt Nieto scored the go-ahead goal at 6:20 of the third period and Alex Stalock made 21 KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommuni- The company also highlighted Zaid’s saves as San Jose defeated New Jersey. cation company in Kuwait, announced its spectacular achievements this season, Logan Couture and Raffi Torres also scored main sponsorship of the Kuwaiti car rac- where he won six races out of eight and and U.S. Olympian Joe Pavelski had the pri- ing Champion Zaid Ashkanani during the the runner up at the remaining two, and mary assists on the tying and winning goals as Porsche GT3 cup challenge Middle East. has become only 3 points away from the the Sharks won for the fifth time in six games. The first race took place at the ‘Dubai premiere rank at the region’s most excit- Patrick Marleau iced the game with a break- Autodrome’ in Dubai; the track which wit- ing and professional tournament. away goal with 2:25 to play, his 25th of the sea- nessed a victory by Zaid earlier this sea- Furthermore, considering Zaid as a son. Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias scored for son. national pride for raising the Kuwaiti flag the Devils, who had a two-game, post-Olympic In a press statement, Zain emphasized in all regional and international tourna- break winning streak snapped. Cory Schneider NEW YORK: Gregory Campbell No. 11 of the Boston Bruins celebrates scoring a goal during the challenging and willing spirit Zaid is ments, Zain granted its deepest wishes for had 18 saves for New Jersey. the third period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square showing while preparing for his second the young car racing star to maintain his Garden. —AFP appearance in ‘Dubai Autodrome’. A simi- significant level of enthusiasm during the PANTHERS 5, ISLANDERS 3 BLUES 4, COYOTES 2 DUCKS 5, HURRICANES 3 lar spirit had previously allowed him to upcoming Bahrain races on the 7th and Scottie Upshall scored twice in the third peri- Patrik Berglund scored twice during St. Corey Perry had two goals and an assist in raise the Kuwaiti flag by winning his first 8th of March, as well as throughout the od as part of a four-goal Panthers surge as Louis’ four-goal, third-period rally as the Blues the first period, and Andrew Cogliano scored Florida downed New York. Upshall’s 11th of the track for this season at the same arena. rest of his career. beat the Phoenix Coyotes in goaltender Ryan a short-handed goal as the Anaheim Ducks season broke a 3-3 tie at 10:31 of the final peri- Miller’s debut. beat the Carolina Hurricanes for their second od. The goal came on the rebound of shot by Miller made 23 saves in his first game since straight victory out of the Olympic break. Agassi: IPTL a no-go if it Shawn Mattias, who also scored two goals for being acquired by St. Louis in a five-player deal Frederik Andersen made 49 saves for the the Panthers. with Buffalo on Friday. In addition to posting a NHL-leading Ducks, who jumped to a 5-0 Upshall tapped the loose puck past backup 284-186-57 record in 10-plus seasons, all with lead midway through the second period clashes with Thanksgiving goaltender Anders Nilsson, who started in place the Sabres, Miller entered the game 6-0-0 with and coasted to their third consecutive win of Evgeni Nabokov. Upshall scored again at a shutout and a 1.15 goals-against average in overall. LONDON: Andre Agassi will snub the inau- IPTL FORMAT 15:26 on the power play to make it 5-3 for gural International Premier Tennis League Agassi was selected for Singapore his career against Phoenix. Francois Beauchemin and Jakob Florida. Tim Thomas made 35 saves for the Kevin Shattenkirk and Magnus Paajarvi Silfverberg also scored as the Ducks won (IPTL) if it clashes with Thanksgiving, the along with world number one Serena Panthers. added goals for the Blues, who had been their NHL-best 43rd game and stayed five former world number one said the day Williams and Czech Tomas Berdych while The Islanders entered the third with a 3-1 scoreless for a franchise record 187:44 before points ahead of Chicago and St. Louis in the after being signed up by the Singapore 14-times major winner Sampras is set to advantage after Thomas Vanek scored twice in scoring three in a nine-plus minute span. overall league standings. franchise. join Rafa Nadal in the Mumbai team. the first and Ryan Strome added a goal late in Jeff Halpern scored his 150th career goal Alexander Semin, Andrej Sekera and The eight-times grand slam champi- Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic head the second. But Florida’s Marcel Goc and and Paul Bissonnette added his first goal since Patrick Dwyer scored in Carolina’s fifth on was named in Sunday’s player draft up the Bangkok and Dubai squads. Matthias scored early in the third to tie the game Dec. 14 for the Coyotes, who have lost four straight loss overall and its fourth in six days for the new Asia-based event but said Modelled on the successful Indian at 3 before Upshall’s late scores. straight and five of six. since the break. —AP he had since learned the first match Premier League cricket competition, the would clash with the November holiday. IPTL would take advantage of an earlier BRUINS 6, RANGERS 3 “It’s a good thing to take tennis to finish to the ATP and WTA seasons and Tuukka Rask made 19 saves in a one-sided NHL results/standings places in the world where they want to involve a five-set format made up of a first period, and defenseman Dougie Hamilton see it. There’s no downside in doing men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s had a goal and two assists to lift the Boston Philadelphia 5, Washington 4 (OT); San Jose 4, New Jersey 2; Florida 5, NY Islanders 3; Ottawa 4, that,” American Agassi told Reuters doubles, mixed doubles and a past cham- Bruins over the Rangers for their first season- Vancouver 2; Boston 6, NY Rangers 3; Colorado 6, Tampa Bay 3; St. Louis 4, Phoenix 2; Anaheim 5, ahead of his World Tennis Day show- pions singles. sweep of New York in 31 years. Rask was at his Carolina 3. down with former arch-rival Pete Fellow American Sampras also best early and finished with 39 saves. He outdu- eled New York netminder Henrik Lundqvist, who Western Conference Eastern Conference Sampras in London later yesterday. appeared slightly in the dark yesterday. Atlantic Division stopped 27 shots on his 32nd birthday but lost Pacific Division “My agreement to do it was based “It’s happened in the last 24 hours,” he told Boston 38 17 5 188 137 81 for the second straight day. The Bruins are 9-2-3 W L OTL GF GA PTS on a few very specific conditions. Reuters. “I’ve just been in talks with them Montreal 34 21 7 159 152 75 in their last 14 games. The Rangers fell one point Certainly economics played a little part and I’m excited to be a part of it. It’s a big Anaheim 43 14 5 202 150 91 Tampa Bay 34 22 5 177 156 73 behind second-place Philadelphia - which beat in it but also time away played another endeavour by the guys who are putting San Jose 39 17 6 188 151 84 Toronto 32 22 8 185 191 72 New York 4-2 on Saturday. Gregory Campbell part. the whole thing together. Los Angeles 34 22 6 150 133 74 Detroit 28 20 12 159 165 68 had two goals for Boston, while Milan Lucic, Ottawa 27 23 11 174 199 65 “I can’t be away for more than four or “It’s not an easy thing to do though Jarome Iginla and Carl Soderberg also scored. Vancouver 28 25 10 150 166 66 Florida 23 31 7 151 197 53 five days so I set some limitations and and we’ll have to see how it all plays out in Phoenix 27 23 11 169 180 65 had some dates in December. “Now I the next weeks. I’ll get more details when I Buffalo 18 34 8 122 180 44 AVALANCHE 6, LIGHTNING 3 Calgary 23 30 7 139 182 53 read in an email that the dates are over get home.” Nick Holden scored two goals, Ryan O’Reilly Edmonton 20 34 8 154 204 48 Metropolitan Division Thanksgiving,” said the 43-year-old Sampras said he would never have had a goal and an assist as the Colorado Pittsburgh 40 16 4 192 149 84 Agassi who is married to former entertained the idea of playing in the Avalanche rallied to beat the Tampa Bay women’s world number one Steffi Graf competition when he was at his peak. “I Central Division Philadelphia 32 24 6 174 180 70 Lightning. NY Rangers 33 26 3 162 157 69 and has two children. didn’t have a lot of time off so it would St. Louis 40 14 6 200 139 86 Semyon Varlamov stopped 31 shots and Erik Washington 29 23 10 184 186 68 “That would be a non-starter for me. have been a tricky thing to commit to,” Johnson and Tyson Barrie also scored for the Chicago 36 12 14 213 166 86 Six or seven days away is too much of a explained the 42-year-old American. Columbus 30 25 5 178 169 65 Avalanche, who have won two straight. Colorado 39 17 5 188 164 83 price to pay.” The draft for the IPTL set “It’s a long journey to Asia and I’m not New Jersey 26 23 13 148 153 65 Nate Thompson had two goals, Tom Pyatt Carolina 26 26 9 151 173 61 up by Indian doubles specialist Mahesh sure how it would have played out for me. Minnesota 33 21 7 150 148 73 also scored and Ben Bishop finished with 29 NY Islanders 23 32 8 173 215 54 Bhupathi saw the four teams - That was my time off.” The IPTL is sched- Dallas 28 22 10 170 169 66 saves for the Lightning. Holden tied it with a Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one Winnipeg 30 26 6 174 178 66 Singapore, Dubai, Bangkok and uled to begin in Singapore on Nov. 28, the power-play goal at 5:12 of the third. It was point in the standings and are not included in Mumbai - bid for players. Organisers day after Thanksgiving, and a week after Colorado’s sixth power-play goal in the past Nashville 26 25 10 150 185 62 the loss column (L). said a total of $24 million was spent. the Davis Cup final. —Reuters three games.