■ Basketball
Learn from Comrade Yao
The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) has dubbed US National Basketball Association star Yao Ming China's most influential athlete ever, and urged others to learn from his professionalism, state media said yesterday. "Yao Ming is the most internationally influential athlete in the history of Chinese sports," Xinhua quoted the CBA as saying in a statement. "What he has achieved was based on his hard work, wisdom and professionalism," it said. The report said officials were not pressing Yao, who is recuperating in Shanghai following a foot injury, to play for China in the World Championships in Japan next month. "We will by no means urge him to play the World Championship in Japan," CBA commissioner Li Yuanwei was quoted as saying on Monday. "We do not want him to take any risk. He can take his time in recuperation." The tournament starts in Japan on Aug. 19. Yao said two weeks ago that his chances of playing in it were 50-50.
■ Cricket
India, Windies in third draw
Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer and VVS Laxman scored half-centuries to steer India to a draw in the third Test against the West Indies on Monday. India, needing an unlikely 392 to win, were 298 for four when stumps were drawn on the fifth and final day. Earlier, the home side declared on 172 for six after eight overs of play in the morning. The first two Tests in the four-match series were also drawn. Dravid top-scored with an unbeaten 68, having shared a third-wicket stand of 100 with Laxman (63). Captain Dravid's innings took him to 8,900 runs in Test cricket, putting him joint sixth with England's Graham Gooch on the list of all-time leading run-scorers.
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