■ Cycling
Paolo Savoldelli wins sprint
Italy's Paolo Savoldelli won a two-way sprint in the mountains Thursday to take the 11th stage of the Giro d'Italia. Savoldelli edged countryman Ivan Basso in the final meters of the 150km trek to win in 4 hours, 13 minutes, 43 seconds. Basso, however, claimed the overall leader's pink jersey from Danilo Di Luca. It is Basso's first career pink jersey. The Italian rider returned to the Giro after a five-year absence and a third-place finish in the 2004 Tour de France. Defending champion Damiano Cunego took a beating as he finished six minutes behind the winner, possibly blowing his chances of a repeat in the Italian cycling marathon. Two-time Giro winner Gilberto Simoni, Cunego's teammate, placed third, 21 seconds back. Di Luca ended up fourth, about one minute behind, losing the pink jersey after four days. Basso, Savoldelli, Simoni and Di Luca broke away as the road climbed to a 1,600m high peak in the Dolomite mountains.
■ Soccer
Vladimir Putin thanks CSKA
Russian President Vladimir Putin says soccer team CSKA's UEFA Cup victory will provide a significant boost to all Russian sports. Putin sent a congratulatory telegram to CSKA coach Valery Gazzayev on Thursday, the day after the Moscow team beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1 to win the cup -- the first European title for a Russian team. "I am sure that this achievement will serve as a serious stimulus for the development of soccer and sports in general in our country," Putin said, according to a statement released by the Kremlin press service. The win "was a wonderful gift to millions of fans and to all of Russia."
■ Rugby
Philip O'Reilly arrested
New Zealander Philip O'Reilly has been suspended from Japan's national team and domestic rugby competition after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting three people in a street fight. The Sanyo Electric rugby club has indefinitely suspended the 24-year-old forward and has also decided to call off its own games and practice sessions. Team director Yoichiro Furuse will step down from his post to take responsibility. According to investigators, O'Reilly was arrested around 2:30am Tuesday in Tokyo's Roppongi district, a famous nightlife area popular with Japan's foreign community. O'Reilly was arrested for allegedly beating up three people, including a 26-year-old staff member of a nightclub, but has denied hitting anyone.
■ Auto Racing
Indy 500 session cancelled
Rain cancelled Thursday's practice session at the Indianapolis 500, during a week that was already shortened because there were no practices scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. It is the third time this month that rain has shortened practice or qualifying. Last Saturday's first qualifying session was rained out. Practice the day before was also cut short because of rain. The final two days of this month's time trials are set for Saturday and Sunday. Teams have just four more days to practice -- the three remaining days this week and May 27, Carb Day. The race is May 29. Wednesday's practice session was unusually busy, in part, because of the forecast.
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