■ Cricket
Overseas players to be cut
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Wednesday that counties will only be able to field one overseas player from the 2008 season. "During a consultation process led by ECB deputy chief executive Hugh Morris it became clear that an overwhelming number of counties supported the reduction from two to one overseas player," the ECB said in a statement. Counties will still be able to replace their one registered overseas player with another should he get injured or called up for an overseas tour at short notice, the ECB said. A maximum number of four overseas players will be able to be registered in one season under the new proposals with a minimum three week registration period for each player.
■ Cricket
Lara to remain as captain
Brian Lara is set to remain as West Indies captain after issuing a public apology for an outburst against the selectors and pitch conditions after losing the final home test against India last month. Lara criticized the selection policies and preparation of pitches during the four-match series, which the West Indies lost 1-0. The veteran batsman was brought before a West Indies Cricket Board committee, headed by president Ken Gordon, to investigate the matter. The committee met with Lara and asked him to make a public apology, to which he agreed. Lara, in his third term as skipper of the Caribbean side, admitted in his written apology that he "broke the confidence placed in me as West Indies captain by my overreaction." Lara "apologized to all concerned" in his letter of apology, dated July 31. The 37-year-old indicated his willingness to continue as skipper during his letter.
■ Cycling
Bazayev takes first stage
Assan Bazayev won the mass sprint on Wednesday to take the first stage of the Tour of Germany. Bazayev, a Kazakh riding for the Astana team, edged Danilo Napolitano of Italy and Erik Zabel of Germany across the line in a stage held in driving rain between Duesseldorf and Bielefeld. The large group of riders, led by Bazayev, needed 4 hours, 43 minutes, 6 seconds to cover the 198.2km. Anton Luengo of Spain and Andreas Matzbacher of Austria made a break 30km after the start but were caught by the field 23km before the finish.
■ Rugby union
England star arrested
England and Bath rugby flyhalf Olly Barkley was arrested after allegedly breaking a man's jaw in a bar fight in Cornwall. Two other men were arrested in the incident, which occurred early on Sunday morning in Newquay. Police said they used tear gas to quell the disturbance. Barkley and the two others were released on bail. One man suffered head and facial injuries, including a fractured jaw, and was treated in hospital. Barkley, 24, has 16 England caps.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with