■ Skiing
Valbusa wins in France
Italy's Fulvio Valbusa and the Czech Republic's Katerina Neumannova won World Cup cross country races in La Clusaz, France, Friday. Valbusa captured the men's 15km freestyle race, finishing with a time of 34 minutes 6.1 seconds -- 12.9 seconds ahead of second place Vincent Vittoz of France. Christian Hoffmann of Austria was third, 17.6 seconds back. Germany's Renne Sommerfeldt finished in fifth, and still tops the overall standings with 568 points.
■ Auto racing
Markko Martin leads rally
Estonia's Markko Martin led the Swedish Rally by 23.3 seconds after Friday's opening five speed tests, in his quest to become the first non-Nordic champion. Martin, a Ford Focus driver who masters all roads, clocked the fastest times on two of the longest stages in Karlstad, Sweden. "Now I'm in front, all I can do is make sure I do the best job I can to stay there," said Martin, who finished fourth last year. Sebastien Loeb of France, who won the championship series opener in Monte Carlo, was second in a Citroen Xsara. Defending world champion Petter Solberg of Norway held third in a Subaru, 26.9 seconds back.
■ Tennis
Rusedski ready for hearing
Greg Rusedski will not allow the World-Anti-Doping Agency to attend his hearing in Montreal on Monday for a positive steroid test. The 1997 US Open finalist will appear before an independent tennis anti-doping panel to explain why he tested positive for nandrolone at an Indianapolis tournament in July. Rusedski could face a two-year ban that could be appealed to an arbitration panel. "I know I am innocent," Rusedski said Friday. The Canadian-born Briton contends the banned substance may have come from supplements supplied by ATP trainers. He says his test result was similar to those of seven other players who tested positive for nandrolone but escaped suspension. Rusedski's positive test came after the ATP instructed its training and medical staff in May to stop issuing the supplements.
■ Boxing
Johnson takes IBF title
Three months after he was denied victory by a drawn decision, American-based Jamaican Glencoffe Johnson on Friday captured the IBF light-heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Clinton Woods. Chasing a title declared vacant by Roy Jones Jr., 35-year-old Johnson was close to flooring the Englishman in round two with a big right hand to the head before he followed up with two left hooks to the body. Although he remained in control of the fight at the Ponds Hall International Arena, Johnson was unable to finish the contest inside the distance but won the fight 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112 on the judges' scorecards. Johnson was furious that he didn't win the contest first time when the two fighters met for the vacant title in the same city -- Woods' home town -- in November. But he returned to complete the job.
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