■ Soccer
Milan want Ronaldo
AC Milan representatives on Wednesday offered Real Madrid 22 million euros(US$28.1 million) for Brazilian striker Ronaldo, sports daily Marca said. The bid is said to be 3 million euros less than Madrid's asking price for the three-time FIFA Player of the Year. However, Madrid president Ramon Calderon told TV channel Cuatro he wanted to speak to Ronaldo before making a decision. "This won't be resolved tonight," Calderon said. "The first thing is find out what the player thinks. In principle, he would like to stay." Calderon indicated on Tuesday he would be interested in trading Ronaldo for Milan's attacking midfielder Kaka, whose arrival he promised in campaigning for Madrid's presidency in July.
■ Soccer
Larsson escapes charges
Henrik Larsson will not face any criminal charges for hitting an opponent in the stomach in a Swedish cup quarterfinal last weekend. Prosecutor Tom Svensson said on Wednesday that he will not launch a preliminary investigation. But Larsson, who returned to Helsingborgs from Barcelona in the offseason, could be suspended when the Swedish Football Federation meets in Stockholm tomorrow. Larsson jabbed defender Jon Jonsson in the stomach in the first half against Elfsborg. Jonsson fell to the ground and did not return to the game. Larsson said he tried to shake off Jonsson and insisted he never clenched his fist. The referee did not see the incident.
■ Cricket
Pakistan mourns Raja
Pakistan's cricket fraternity is mourning the loss of former allrounder Wasim Raja, who died at the age of 54 while playing in a seniors match in England. "This news has left me deeply shocked ... The game has lost a great servant, a true entertainer and someone who played with a flair that only a player with real talent can display," International Cricket Council (ICC) president Percy Sonn said in a statement Thursday. Raja, who played 57 tests and 54 one-day matches for Pakistan, reportedly suffered a heart attack during a match at High Wycombe in England, the ICC said in a separate statement released after Raja's death Wednesday. Raja, a left-handed batsman, scored 517 runs on the 1977 tour to the West Indies, including 117-run knock at Barbados. He also took eight wickets with his right-arm leg-break bowling. After making his test debut in 1973, Raja appeared in the first three World Cups in 1975, 1979 and 1983. He scored 2,821 test runs and took 51 wickets, along with 782 runs and 21 wickets in one-day internationals.
■ Rugby League
Sargent sacked over cocaine
Australian rugby league player Mitchell Sargent was sacked by the North Queensland Cowboys last night after testing positive to cocaine, the club said. The Cowboys said Sargent, a 27-year-old prop forward, tested positive for the drug earlier this month. "Mitchell Sargent had a promising career with the Cowboys until today," club chief executive Peter Parr told reporters.
■ Basketball
Baxter sentenced for gun fun
Former NBA player Lonny Baxter was sentenced on Wednesday to two months in jail after pleading guilty to charges of carrying a gun a few blocks from the White House. Baxter had been scheduled to play this fall with Montepaschi Siena, a pro team in Italy. But that could be in jeopardy. Baxter, who played with the Charlotte Bobcats last season, has been in jail since his arrest last Wednesday, when uniformed Secret Service officers responded to reports of shots being fired from a white SUV. Officers found a gun and spent shell casings in the SUV that Baxter was driving. The 27-year-old player and his passenger, Francis Martin, 35, were charged with carrying a handgun without a license and other firearms charges. Prosecutors dropped the case against Martin on Wednesday.
■ Soccer
Keane may lead Sunderland
Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane could be unveiled as the new manager of Championship strugglers Sunderland in the coming days. Club chairman Niall Quinn last night declared that the club would soon appoint "a winner," although he stopped short of naming Keane as the man to take over at the Stadium of Light.
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