■ Ice Hockey
Jagr Czech player of the year
New York Rangers forward Jaromir Jagr was voted the Czech Republic's player of the year for the seventh time. The 34-year-old veteran won the vote on Saturday by a panel of sports journalists and hockey coaches. Toronto's Tomas Kaberle was the runner-up for the 2005-2006 season, and David Vyborny, the Czech Republic's national team captain at the World Cup this year, placed third.
■ Motorcycling
Rossi takes Brno pole
Italian Valentino Rossi took pole position at the Czech Gran Prix on Saturday as he looks to make up ground on American Nicky Hayden and win his sixth consecutive MotoGP title. Rossi, who has won five times at the 5.4-km Masaryk Ring, posted a fastest lap in one minute 56.19 seconds on his Camel Yamaha, a new track record. Rossi won the German GP last month, but failed to finish the next race, the US Grand Prix, which Hayden won before the competition took a three-week break. "I think I came back from holiday in a good shape," Rossi said. "Before the start I was quite stressed and not relaxed, because we had a lot of problems ... [But] this time we did a great job together with the team and I am very happy," he added. Italian compatriot Loris Capirossi, riding a Ducati, took second position on the grid, 0.25 seconds back.
■ Basketball
Monarchs advance to finals
Yolanda Griffith scored 17 points, Rebekkah Brunson added 14 and the Sacramento Monarchs advanced to the WNBA Western Conference finals with a methodical 92-64 victory over the Houston Comets on Saturday in Game 2 of their first-round series. Ticha Penicheiro had seven assists and hit two 3-pointers for the defending WNBA champion Monarchs, who won Game 1 of the best-of-three series in Houston before rolling into the conference finals for the fourth straight season.
■ Soccer
Men can watch women
Soccer authorities in Pakistan have dropped restrictions on men watching women play soccer a senior official said on Saturday. "Anybody can come and watch the matches," Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) technical director Mir Farooq said. "We have made adequate security and seating arrangements for everyone." When the women's championship was launched last year in this Muslim country, the PFF did not allow unaccompanied men to watch. Only men who came with their families were allowed in. Farooq said the women players had to wear baggy track suit trousers and long-sleeved shirts and their matches were to be supervised by a women referee. "We want to promote women's sports but we are also aware of the sensitivities associated with women's sports," he said.
■ Portugal
Porto wins Super Cup
Double winners Porto beat Cup runners-up Vitoria Setubal 3-0 on Saturday to win the Super Cup, the new season's curtain-raiser. Porto opened the scoring after 54 minutes through a bicycle kick from Brazilian striker Adriano. With Porto's new coach Jesualdo Ferreira in the stands and caretaker Rui Barros on the bench, the champions doubled the lead after 75 minutes when Brazilian teenager Anderson tapped in. One minute from the final whistle substitute Vieirinha completed the rout with a powerful shot from outside the area. Ferreira, Porto's sixth coach since they won the Champions League in 2004 under Jose Mourinho, replaced Dutchman Co Adriaanse who resigned last week.
■ Netherlands
Alkmaar thrashes Breda
A hat-trick from Simon Cziommer inspired AZ Alkmaar to an 8-1 hammering of NAC Breda in their opening Dutch first division game of the season on Saturday. Danny Koevermans began the goal spree in the 33rd minute before Cziommer netted a free kick seven minutes later. Ronnie Stam pulled one back early in the second half after a blunder from Alkmaar goalkeeper Joey Didulica. But bemused Breda were buried by four goals in 10 minutes from Joris Mathijsen, Cziommer, Stijn Schaars and Tim de Cler. Koevermans grabbed his second to make it 7-1 before Cziommer completed his treble with 10 minutes left.
■ Sweden
Larsson under scrutiny
Former Barcelona striker Henrik Larsson, playing for Helsingborgs, was involved in controversy on Saturday when television cameras caught him delivering what looked like a punch to an opponent's stomach. The incident happened during the first half of a quarter-final cup match against Elfsborg which Helsingborgs won on penalties after the game ended 4-4 after extra time. Television showed Larsson, who spent seven seasons at Celtic before joining Barcelona in 2004, being held by Elfsborg player Jon Jonsson then delivering a jab to his opponent's stomach. Jonsson had to leave the field. "He was holding me and I just tried to push him away," Larsson told the TV4 channel, which broadcast the match. He also said it had not been such a serious blow.
■ Spain
Villarreal suffer blow
Villarreal's Argentine international center back Gonzalo Rodriguez will miss most of the season after tearing the cruciate ligaments in his right knee in a pre-season game against Real Madrid. "Gonzalo has sustained a very serious injury," club president Fernando Roig told reporters after his side's 1-0 win in the Ramon de Carranza tournament in Cadiz. "We will have to do without him for the next seven months. It is a very heavy blow." The Primera Liga team said Rodriguez would undergo further tests today to assess the full extent of the injury.
■ Italy
Juve off to winning start
Juventus began the season with a 3-0 win over third division Martina Franca in the first round of the Italian Cup on Saturday. Goals by Pavel Nedved and new signings Marco Marchionni and Valeri Bojinov gave the Turin giants a victory in their first competitive outing since they were relegated to the second division following a match-fixing trial. Playing in the first round was a novelty for Juventus. Italy's top clubs get a bye through the first three rounds before joining the competition at the last-16 stage.
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