■ Soccer
Connection downs Chivas
Late goals from Jose Luis Seabra and Earl Jean gave 10-man W Connection a surprising 2-1 win over Mexico's Chivas in a CONCACAF Champions Cup first-leg quarterfinal on Tuesday. Caribbean champion Connection was expected to struggle against the 11-time Mexican champ. After 19 minutes it seemed doomed when Trinidad and Tobago international goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams saved a shot from striker Sergio Santana outside the area, earning him an automatic red card. But Chivas didn't score until the 60th when Mexico international Omar Bravo headed in a left cross at Manny Ramjohn Stadium.
■ Soccer
Defensor wins Copa opener
Defensor beat Argentine visitor Gimnasia y Esgrima 3-0 in the Group 8 opening match of Copa Libertadores soccer on Tuesday in Montevideo, Uruguay. Also, Argentina's Velez Sarsfield beat Emelec of Ecuador 1-0 and Cucuta Deportivo and Deportes Tolima drew 0-0 in Bogota. In Montevideo, Sebastian Ariosa scored in the 36th minute and Carlos Morales and Maximiliano Pereira added goals after halftime before 15,000 fans at Centenario. Gimnasia's only near miss was Santiago Silva's shot off the crossbeam. In Guayaquil, Ecuador, Marcelo Bustamante scored off a 13th minute free kick by Mauro Zarate to lead Velez Sarsfield over Emelec to open Group 4.
■ Soccer
Free Premier games to end
The era of free English Premier League games onChinese TV is about to end. Beginning next season, Premier League games will shift from free coverage on ESPN-Star to pay-for-view broadcasting in a rights deal won by Guangdong-based WinTV, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. "It's time to say goodbye to those TV channels that provided Premier League games free of charge," WinTV chief executive Song Zheng said. He declined to say what his company paid for the broadcast rights. Song said the cost for pay-for-view would be US$24 monthly.
■ Tennis
Bammer slams Maes
Sybille Bammer of Austria won her sixth straight match when she routed Belgian wild card Caroline Maes 6-2, 6-0 in the first round of the Diamond Games on Tuesday. Bammer won the first title of her 12-year pro career on Sunday in Pattaya, Thailand. The 26-year-old also became the first mother to win on the WTA Tour since 1989. Three Frenchwomen and three Russians were also winners on Tuesday. Qualifier Virginie Razzano beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 6-4, 6-1, and set up a match with fellow Frenchwoman and two-time defending champion Amelie Mauresmo today. Olga Poutchkova of Russia led 7-6 (2) when Severine Bremond of France retired with a groin strain.
■ Tennis
Baghdatis wins in Open 13
Seventh-seeded Marcos Baghdatis hit 12 aces in beating Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Open 13 on Tuesday in Marseille, France. Baghdatis saved all three break points he faced against the Serb. Fabrice Santoro, the 1999 champion, advanced when Fernando Verdasco of Spain retired with a left foot injury while trailing 6-3, 3-2. Marc Gicquel beat fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils for the first time in three meetings 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5. Gicquel withstood 16 aces and broke Monfils a fourth time to end the match. Qualifier Cyril Saulnier beat French compatriot David Guez 6-4, 6-2.
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