■ Soccer
Mexico mulling cup bid
Mexico was considering bidding for the 2014 World Cup, the new leader of the Mexican soccer federation said in an interview published on Friday. Justino Compean told El Universal newspaper that Mexico could also host in 2010 if South Africa can't resolve its infrastructure worries. The 2014 Cup is slated for South America, and Brazil is favored. But Compeon isn't ruling out a bid for its third tournament. "The World Cup would undoubtedly be the icing on the cake," Compean said. "We would like to host a tournament during our administration," which ends in 2010. Mexico hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986.
■ Champ Car
Da Matta flies home
Injured Champ Car World Series driver Cristiano da Matta flew home to Miami on Friday as he continues to recover from a head injury sustained in an accident last month. The 32-year-old has been recovering at Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, Wisconsin since the Aug. 3 accident when his car collided with a deer that wandered onto the track during a test session at Road America. He flew with family members to Miami, where he is expected to remain for seven to 10 days, Champ Car spokesman Steve Shunck said. After that, he may return to his home country of Brazil to continue his recovery.
■ Basketball
Wagner joins Warriors
The Golden State Warriors on Friday signed the oft-injured guard Dajuan Wagner, who has not played in the NBA since last year. Selected sixth overall by Cleveland in 2002, Wagner has battled a variety of injuries throughout his career. He played in just 73 of a possible 164 games in his first two seasons before being limited to 11 contests in the 2004-2005 season, when he was diagnosed with colitis, an inflammation of the colon. Wagner had his colon removed last October and he lost 13.6kg. In Golden State, he joins a backcourt that includes Baron Davis and Jason Richardson. Still just 23 years old, Wagner averaged 13.4 points during his rookie campaign.
■ Cycling
UCI wants DNA profiling
Cycling's world ruling body is hoping it can oblige riders to submit DNA samples and undergo physiological profiling in a bid to stamp out doping, the Union Cycliste International (UCI) announced on Friday. After a summer of serious doping allegations and affairs which are still ongoing, the UCI is desperate to stamp cheating out of the sport. After a series of meetings on Friday between the body which distributes team licenses for the Pro Tour and the racing series' legal advisers, the UCI's Pro Tour council announced that DNA profiling and physiological profiling of riders would be one of the measures they are hoping to introduce.
■ Hockey
Senators' Corvo breaks foot
Joe Corvo, who inked a rich free-agent contract with the Ottawa Senators over the summer, suffered a broken right foot in the Senators' 4-3 National Hockey League preseason loss to Buffalo. With the contest tied at 3-3, Corvo attempted to block a slap shot by Ales Kotalik with 4:28 to go in the third period. The puck hit Corvo in the foot, and the 29-year-old defenseman went directly to the locker room. He will be out indefinitely. After recording career highs of 14 goals and 40 points with Los Angeles last season, Corvo left the Kings to sign a four-year, US$10.5 million deal with the Senators on July 1.
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