■ Grand Prix
Raikkonnen secures pole
Kimi Raikkonen took pole position yesterday for today's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, while Formula One champion Fernando Alonso starts his title defense beside him at the front of the grid. It was Raikkonen's 12th career pole, but his first in a Ferrari. Formerly of McLaren, the Finn joined Ferrari to replace seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who retired last year. Raikkonen completed the 5.303km Albert Park circuit with a time of 1 minute, 26.072 seconds. His last pole position was at the Italian GP in September, but he was winless last season after winning seven races in 2005 for McLaren.
■ Soccer
Kahn and Lucio accused
UEFA accused Bayern Munich players Oliver Kahn and Lucio on Friday of improper conduct after last week's European Champions League win against Real Madrid. Kahn, the team's goalkeeper, and the Brazilian defender "breached basic rules of good conduct" at the post-match doping control, according to European soccer's governing body. UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body will hear the case next Thursday. "This is completely new to us -- we can't say anything to it at the moment," Bayern spokesman Markus Horwick said. Bayern beat Madrid 2-1 and advanced on away goals after the two teams played to a 4-4 aggregate draw.
■ Soccer
Two charged over violence
German authorities have raised charges against two people allegedly involved in violence five weeks ago that left 39 police officers injured. The charges of serious breach of peace and attempted to cause serious bodily harm against two men were the first to be brought since the riots at a game involving Lok Leipzig and Erzgebirge Aue, two lower league teams, on Feb. 10. About 800 Leipzig fans attacked 300 police and security officers after Leipzig lost the cup match 3-0. Six fans were also injured.
■ Cricket
Bangladesh upset over death
Habibul Bashar said his Bangladesh World Cup squad was in shock after waking to the news that a teammate was killed in a road accident at home. International cricketer Manjural Islam, 22, died in an accident when an ambulance slammed into a motorcycle in southwestern Bangladesh earlier on Friday. Manjural and his friend Sajjadul Islam, also a domestic cricketer, were killed in the accident that occurred in Khulna district, 136km southwest of the capital, Dhaka. "It's a shocking news for all of us, he was a friend and a teammate. The boys are very upset," Bashar said. Left-arm spinner Manjural played six tests and 25 one day internationals. He made his one-day debut in 2003 at the age of 19 and his test debut in the same season against Zimbabwe.
■ Cycling
Popovych takes fifth stage
Yaroslav Popovych won Friday's fifth stage of the Paris-Nice race, while Italy's Davide Rebellin held the overall lead. Ukraine's Popovych, who surged ahead in a small pack of riders at the 9km mark, gradually moved away from his rivals along the 178km trek from Sorgues to Manosque. The breakaway win was reminiscent of Popovych's stage victory in last year's Tour de France. Popovych crossed the finish line 14 seconds ahead of a pack of 49 other riders, including Rebellin. Gerolsteiner rider Rebellin holds a six-second lead over Spain's Alberto Contador of Discovery Channel in second. Lampre rider Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia is third, 23 seconds off the leader's pace.
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