■ Local
Giant strides in Europe
Taiwan's Giant Asia cycling team dominated the Adriatic Trophy race held in Montenegro on Sunday, winning all three top prizes as well as fifth and seventh place. The gold medal went to Paul Redenbach (阮保羅), who finished in three hours 43 minutes, 17 seconds in this 131km race. He was followed by teammates Glen Chadwick (查葛倫) at 3:43:17 and Mark Roland (羅馬克) at 3:44:08. The fifth and seventh places went to Ghader Mizbani Iranagh (葛爾德) and Luke Stockwell (史脫鹿) respectively. Most other rankings were taken by Moldavian cyclists. The race route began in Budva and passed through Centinje, Podgorica and Petrova before returning to Budva.
■ Cycling
Kazakh dies after coma
Kazakh cyclist Andrei Kivilev died of head injuries at a hospital in southern France yesterday, a day after he tumbled from his bike during the second stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race, organizers said. Kivilev, 29, fractured his skull and broke two ribs in the fall about 40km from the finish line of the 182.5km route from La Clayette to Saint-Etienne. The Cofidis rider went into a coma and died early yesterday in the Bellevue hospital in Saint-Etienne, said Gerard Tournier, president of Kivilev's fan club, Kivi Club. The damage from head trauma and lesions was irreparable, despite quick intervention, race organizers said.
■ Baseball
Ephedra makers face suit
Eight California counties and one city have filed suit against the maker of a dietary supplement linked to the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, alleging deceptive advertising. The counties accuse Cytodyne Technologies of false and misleading advertising that does not mention possible health risks associated with Ephedra.
■ SUMO
Asashoryu back on track
Mongolian Asashoryu got back on the winning track yesterday with a victory over Shimotori on the fourth day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament. Asashoryu, who was handed his first loss as yokozuna by compatriot Kyokutenho on Tuesday, was shoved back by Shimotori at the face off but improved to 3-1 in the 15-day tournament when he sidestepped the charging No. 3 maegashira. Shimotori fell to 1-3. After winning the Emperor's Cup in two consecutive tournaments -- in November and January -- the 22-year-old Asashoryu was promoted to sumo's top rank of yokozuna earlier this year. Asashoryu is the first Mongolian to reach yokozuna, or grand champion.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier