■ Athletics
Powell ready to return
Asafa Powell, who shares the world record in the 100m, is training at full speed again and could return to competition next month after weeks on the sideline with knee tendinitis. "He is not 100 percent yet, but the body has healed," Powell's manager, Paul Doyle, said on Saturday. "If he is not 100 percent, he is certainly close." Powell skipped the Jamaica International Invitational in Kingston on Saturday. Doyle said Powell likely will return for the Prefontaine Classic on June 10 in Oregon.
■ Golf
Liang pips mentor to prize
Liang Wenchong became the first Chinese golfer to earn US$1 million in Asian Tour prize money, narrowly beating his mentor Zhang Lianwei to the milestone. Liang picked up US$80,645 on Sunday for placing second at the Maekyung Open in South Korea and increased his career haul to US$1.02 million, the Asian Tour confirmed yesterday. Zhang, a five-time winner on the Asian Tour, was US$672 short of joining the million-dollar club, the tour said. Liang is the 12th player to surpass the million-dollar mark on the Asian Tour, with Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee leading the career money list with US$2.4 million.
■ Soccer
Toon let Roeder go
Newcastle United have accepted the resignation of manager Glenn Roeder, the Premier League club said yesterday. Media reports on Sunday said Roeder, a former club captain, had quit after a year in charge at St James' Park. "Newcastle United today announced that Glenn Roeder has offered his resignation as team manager with immediate effect and this has been accepted by the Newcastle United board, the club said in a statement on their Web site. Newcastle were jeered off by their own fans after losing 2-0 at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday and are 13th of the 20 teams in the Premier League.
■ Baseball
Clemens back in the Bronx
Roger Clemens returned to the New York Yankees, making a dramatic announcement to fans from the owner's box during Sunday's game against the Seattle Mariners. Just before the start of Yankees half of the seventh, public address announcer Bob Sheppard told fans to turn their attention to the box, where the seven-time Cy Young Award winner made the announcement himself. "Well, they came and got me out of Texas and I can tell you it's a privilege to be back," Clemens said. "I'll be talking to y'all soon." Clemens, who will turn 45 in August, agreed to a minor league contract and most likely will join the Yankees after several weeks to physically prepare.
■ Soccer
AFC fears Red Devils' visit
Asian soccer's governing body voiced fears that Manchester United's plan to tour Asia in July could jeopardize the region's flagship tournament. Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation, said on Sunday United's planned visit was "of particular concern" because it could hurt efforts to promote the July 7 to July 29 AFC Asian Cup. Malaysian officials recently announced that Manchester United will play a friendly soccer match in Malaysia on July 27. The Football Association of Malaysia has denied the United match would undermine attendance at Asian Cup pool games to be staged in Malaysia, which is co-hosting the tournament with Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
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