The Canadian Women’s Hockey League will discontinue operations on May 1, the league announced Sunday. A week after the Calgary Inferno won the league championship, the CWHL said that the 12-year-old league is throwing in the towel. ‘‘Unfortunately, while the on-ice hockey is exceptional, the business model has proven to be economically unsustainable,’’ the league said in a statement. The CWHL, founded in 2007, had six teams in North America and China this past season. The league included national team players from the United States, Canada, Finland, Japan and China. ‘‘I'm heartbroken at the news of the CWHL folding,’’ Calgary Inferno forward Brianne Jenner said on Twitter. ‘‘Hard to process this after our most successful season to date. Thank you to the builders, players, coaches, GMs, fans that made it possible for 12 seasons. We will rebound from this.’’ The league lost a major financial backer in November when longtime supporter Graeme Roustan withdrew the sponsorship of his venture capital firm Roustan Capital.
Basketball
Baseball
Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo was impressed with Luciano’s performance, especially a fastball that reached 96 miles per hour. ‘‘For sure he’s not nervous,” Montoyo said. “He’s got the stuff to compete in the big leagues.’’
Tennis
Federer adds another title to record
Roger Federer became tennis’s first repeat champion of 2019 when he won his 101st career title by beating a hobbled John Isner in the Miami Open final, 6-1, 6-4. Federer neutralized Isner’s big serve and won 32 of 35 points on his own serve. The 6-foot-10-inch Isner scrambled so desperately to stay in rallies that he hurt his left foot and limped badly through the final few points. Federer, by contrast, is just fine. He was the Dubai champion on March 2, then runner-up to Dominic Thiem at Indian Wells two weeks ago.
‘‘This is a good phase, a good stretch for me right now,’’ Federer said. ‘‘I really feel super healthy.” Federer is 18-2 this year, best on the men’s tour, which stamps him as a threat to add to his record total of 20 Grand Slam titles in 2019.
Soccer
Footballers of the world, unite
China is recruiting foreign players of Chinese origin in a bid to raise playing standards in its domestic league and internationally, where the country’s men have been perennial underperformers. But there is one catch: Prospective players must bone up on the Communist Manifesto. New guidelines issued by the Chinese Football Association say naturalized players must learn Communist Party history and communism’s basic theories, in addition to learning China’s national anthem, flag, symbols, national conditions, and Chinese culture. China’s national team is currently ranked 72 in the world by FIFA. Xi Jinping, China’s president and head of the ruling Communist Party, has made turning China into a global football power a national priority.
Miscellany
Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton profited from Ferrari’s latest failure and won the Bahrain Grand Prix. The race looked likely to finish a Ferrari 1-2 for Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. But Vettel cracked under the pressure of Hamilton’s attack with less than 20 laps left and spun out of contention. Then, with less than 10 laps to go, Leclerc’s engine started losing power, allowing Hamilton to shred a 10-second deficit and secure the win . . . The Jockey Club released a major report calling for comprehensive reform of the US horse racing industry, including a major overhaul of drug use and uniform out-of-competition drug testing. The report’s release follows the deaths of 22 racehorses at California’s Santa Anita Park in less than three months. ‘‘It would be a mistake to view the Santa Anita fatalities as an isolated situation — spikes in the deaths of horses have occurred at other tracks and they will continue to occur without significant reforms,’’ the report said.