■ Tennis
Stepanek quits, Czechs livid
Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic announced his retirement from the national team on Friday and will not play the US in next year's Davis Cup match. Stepanek's decision "unequivocally confirmed that he is completely indifferent to playing for the Czech Republic and that he despises Czech tennis, his teammates, officials and Czech tennis fans," the Czech tennis federation said in a statement. Josef Nechutny, secretary-general of the federation, earlier confirmed Stepanek's decision to retire. Stepanek, ranked No. 19, is the country's second-best player.
■ Cricket
WADA targets Pakistanis
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has lodged an appeal for the restoration of the original bans imposed on Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif for doping. The Pakistan Cricket Board banned Akhtar for two years and Asif for one on Nov. 1 for taking the banned steroid nandrolone, but an appeals tribunal overturned the decision on Dec. 5. WADA appealed that decision on Thursday to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Lausanne, Switzerland. "WADA has determined that it has the right -- and the duty -- to appeal in the circumstances in the interest of doping-free sport," spokesman Frederic Donze said on Friday.
■ RUGBY
Van Vliet in racism spat
Toulon's South African third rower Charl Van Vliet has been called before the National Rugby League (LNR) disciplinary commission on Jan. 3 after being accused of racism by a black French player. "Following remarks the RC Toulon player made towards Pau player Guy Jeannard ... Charl Van Vliet has been summonsed before the disciplinary commission on Jan. 3, 2007," the LNR said in a statement. Pau second rower Jeannard left the field voluntarily moments before the final whistle of last Saturday's 17-18 defeat to second division rivals Toulon. According to Pau club officials, the 34-year-old Jeannard said he had been the victim of "intolerable racist insults" by Van Vliet. He decided to leave the pitch, he said, before doing something he would later regret.
■ Soccer
Sunderland borrow Bardsley
Manchester United back Phil Bardsley will go on loan to Championship side Sunderland next month, manager Sir Alex Ferguson said on Friday. Sunderland boss Roy Keane, once Ferguson's captain at Old Trafford, was reportedly interested in taking teenage Northern Ireland international Johnny Evans to the northeast club. Although Ferguson said he was still to make up his mind on any temporary move for Evans, he did confirm that Bardsley was on his way to the Stadium of Light next month.
■ Olympics
Third terror drill staged
China's military staged an anti-terror drill in an eastern city yesterday that state media said was part of security preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The "Great Wall No. 3" exercise, the third "state-level" anti-terror drill, took place in Qingdao City, according to Xinhua news agency. "This exercise was conducted under the guidance of the central leadership ... and was carried out against the backdrop of a potential terror attack in China in the form of a biochemical strike," Xinhua reported. The drill focused on crisis handling in a city in the event of an attack and was conducted according to the needs of security measures for the 2008 Olympics, the report said.
■ College Football
Troy beats Rice in bowl
Omar Haugabook threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead Troy to a 41-17 victory over Rice on Friday in the New Orleans Bowl. It was the second bowl appearance and first victory for the Trojans (8-5), who moved up to Division I-A in 2002. Troy earned the bowl bid with its first Sun Belt Conference title. Haugabook, the Sun Belt player of the year and unanimous MVP of the game, completed 14 of 28 for 217 yards. He was intercepted once. Haugabook also picked up 92 of Troy's 148 yards. Rice (7-6) was seeking its first postseason victory since 1954.
■ Women's soccer
US to play Germany
The US women's soccer team will open its schedule next year against Germany on Jan. 26 at the Four Nations Tournament in Guangzhou, China. The US team, unbeaten in their last 32 games, also play England on Jan. 28 and China on Jan. 30. The US team, which won the Four Nations Tournament in 1998, 2003, 2004 and this year, does not intend to include forwards Kristine Lilly and Abby Wambach, midfielder Aly Wagner and defender Christie Rampone on its roster. "We will not be bringing some of our top veteran players to allow them to rejoin the team with fresh legs and minds in February," coach Greg Ryan said on Friday.
■ Baseball
Griffey injures hand
Ken Griffey Jr. couldn't avoid getting injured in the offseason. The center fielder for Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds broke his left hand in an accident at home, the latest in a series of setbacks since he was traded to his hometown team in 2000. Griffey will have the hand in a hard cast for three weeks, then be re-examined, the team said on Friday. The club wasn't authorized by Griffey to give any details of how he was hurt. General manager Wayne Krivsky wasn't sure whether Griffey will be ready for the start of spring training.
■ Baseball
Yankees sign Miranda
Juan Miranda, a 23-year-old Cuban-born infielder, signed a four-year contract on Friday with the New York Yankees and is set to become the baseball club's first non-pitching Cuban player in 20 years. Miranda was born and raised in Consulacion del Sur in Cuba but now lives in the Dominican Republic. From 2002 through 2004, he played for Pinar Del Rio of Cuba, batting .303 with 27 home runs. "Juan Miranda has impressed our scouts with his talent and his strength," Yankees Dominican Republic scouting supervisor Ramon Valdivia said. "His biggest asset is his bat."
■ Lacrosse
Duke rape charges dropped
Rape charges against three former Duke University lacrosse players in Durham, North Carolina, were dropped on Friday after the accuser told investigators she was uncertain about some details of the alleged attack. The sexual assault case's latest turn is not the final word as the players, who have maintained their innocence from the start, still face charges of kidnapping and sexual offense. Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong dismissed the rape charges a day after the accuser said she was not certain she had been vaginally penetrated by a penis as she had initially believed. Attorneys for the former players have often said the accuser's story has changed several times since the March 13 party where she was hired as a stripper.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier