■ Soccer
Thatcher fined, banned
Manchester City defender Ben Thatcher was banned for eight matches on Tuesday by England's Football Association. Portsmouth midfielder Pedro Mendes had a seizure after being struck in the head by Thatcher in a 0-0 draw in the English Premier League on Aug. 23. He was taken off on a stretcher and spent the night at a Manchester hospital. Thatcher has already sat out two games in a ban imposed by the club, and will be forced to miss six more games. The Football Association has also given Thatcher a suspended 15-game ban. It would come into effect if Thatcher is cited again for a similar action in the next two years. Thatcher had already been fined ?120,000 (US$225,000) by Man City.
■ Basketball
US women win in Brazil
Sue Bird led all scorers with 20 points and Candace Parker had 12 points and 10 rebounds on Tuesday to lead the two-time defending champion US to a 119-72 victory over China on the opening day of basketball's Women's World Championship in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Cuba downed Taiwan 75-20. Spain opened the tournament with an 87-57 victory over South Korea. In other games, Helen scored with 10 seconds remaining to give Brazil a 71-69 victory over archrival Argentina in Sao Paulo. Lithuania finally made it into Brazil after being help up in French Guyana because of a travel problem, but still had to forfeit its first game -- against Australia -- because it didn't arrive in time.
■ NFL
Green leaves hospital
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green left hospital on Tuesday, three days after he was knocked cold in the Chiefs' 23-19 National Football League loss to Cincinnati. Green, a two-time Pro Bowler, suffered what team officials said was a "very severe concussion" after being hit by defensive end Robert Geathers in the third quarter and will be sidelined indefinitely. But Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said the 36-year-old veteran was keen to return. "If it was up to Trent, knowing the type of guy he is, he'd show up tomorrow and kind of go to meetings and be whispering in my ear and say, `Coach, by Friday, I'll be ready to go,'" Edwards said, but added the Chiefs wouldn't hurry Green's return.
■ Rugby Union
Rogers to switch codes
Wallabies back Mat Rogers will switch codes again and join the National Rugby League's Gold Coast Titans after next year's Rugby World Cup, the team announced yesterday. Rogers, who represented Australia in rugby league before switching to rugby union ahead of the 2003 World Cup, will complete contract obligations to the Australian and New South Wales Rugby Unions before joining the Titans, the team said. He will play in next year's Super 14 competition for the New South Wales Waratahs and be available for the Wallabies at the World Cup in September before joining the Titans.
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