■Rugby
Daniel Heenan gets drafted
Rangy Queensland backrower Daniel Heenan was drafted in the Wallabies squad yesterday to replace injured flanker George Smith for Australia's series-opening Tri-Nations rugby union international against South Africa at Cape Town. Smith failed a fitness test Wednesday and will be sidelined for July 12 test. Smith also missed tests against Wales and England last month after injuring his neck in the Wallabies season-opening win over Ireland, which allowed Waratahs flanker Phil Waugh to move into the starting lineup and Heenan to cover the bench.
■ Boxing
Holyfield gets married
Four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield was married in a ceremony at the Fayette County Courthouse, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported yesterday. The 40-year-old Holyfield, and Candi Calvana Smith, 24, who listed her occupation as "student" on the marriage license application, were wed in the courtroom of Probate Judge Martha Stephenson on Tuesday.
■ Soccer
Hamm wants another Cup
US soccer stalwart Mia Hamm will have one more chance to add to her World Cup resume. "This is definitely my last World Cup," she told the MetroWest Daily News on Wednesday. "I mean, I'm getting too old for all of this." The 31-year-old Hamm and the rest of the women's national team will be defending their World Cup title this fall, when the US hosts the Women's World Cup. Hamm is the all-time international scoring leader with 133 goals. Hamm has won the Women's World Cup twice, in 1991 and 1999
Agencies
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
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