■ Motorcycling
Rossi rocks in Doha
Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy won Saturday's Qatar Grand Prix in Doha for his second victory in three visits to the event. The defending champion, who finished 14th in last month's season opener in Jerez, Spain, won in 43 minutes, 22.22 seconds on the 5.3km Losail International Circuit in Doha. The Italian's Yamaha finished ahead of Nicky Hayden of the US and Jerez winner Loris Capirossi of Italy. Hayden, on a Honda, finished the 22-lap race in 43:23.12. Ducati's Capirossi finished third in 43:23.72. Sete Gibernau of Spain finished fourth on a Ducati, one place ahead of Honda rider Casey Stoner, who started only his second ever MotoGP race from pole position. Jorge Lorenzo of Spain secured his second successive win of the 250cc season, completing the 20-lap race in 41:29.94 after starting from pole. Andrea Dovizioso and fellow Italian Roberto Locatelli finished second and third respectively. Dovizioso had 41:30.02, more than 19 seconds ahead of Locatelli.
■ Sailing
Yachts head off to US
Dutch entry ABN AMRO ONE retook the lead of the Volvo Ocean Race on Saturday after the yachts left Sao Paulo Brazil en route to the US in the fifth leg of the around-the-world competition. ABN AMRO ONE, -- winner of three of the first four legs -- overcame Spain's movistar shortly after the boats crossed the scoring gate at the Fernando de Noronha isle off Brazil's northeastern coast. It led movistar by 24km as the yachts headed toward the next stop in Baltimore. US yacht Pirates of the Caribbean was third, 48km behind the leader, followed closely by Sweden's Ericsson Racing Team and Brasil 1. ABN AMRO TWO was last, 146km back from ABN AMRO ONE.
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