■ cricket
Taibu set for return
Former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu looks set for a return with the beleaguered national side after resuming training with his teammates, two years on from his fallout with management. While Taibu himself has refused to comment Givemore Makoni, team manager for the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, said that the wicketkeeper had opened talks with administrators. He said that Taibu could be selected for the match between Zimbabwe and the West Indies A team who should be in Zimbabwe in August.
■ Soccer
Sociedad line up Coleman
Relegated Real Sociedad said Thursday they have lined up former Fulham boss Chris Coleman as their new coach after Miguel Angel Lotina resigned last week to join Primera Liga club Deportivo La Coruna. Coleman, who was sacked by Fulham in April after four years in charge, is negotiating a three-year deal with the San Sebastian-based club, who dropped out of the top flight after 40 years following a disastrous campaign which saw them go winless until the week before Christmas. Sociedad said the club's board had to ratify the final details of a contract for Coleman, who would follow in the footsteps of fellow Welshman John Toshack if he does take over the club, which won the league title in 1981 and 1982.
■ Soccer
Sissoko signs contract
Mali midfielder Mohamed Sissoko signed a new four-year contract with Liverpool on Thursday, becoming the fifth first-team player to commit his future to the club. Sissoko followed Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso, captain Steven Gerrard, England defender Jamie Carragher and Spain goalkeeper Jose Reina in extending his contract. "It was never in my thoughts to leave Liverpool," Sissoko said. "I read about the speculation linking me with other clubs but I am already at a big, big club and it's an honor for me to be able to call myself a Liverpool player."
■ Cricket
Hayden intends to bat on
Opening batsman Matthew Hayden has declared he has no intention of retiring from Test and one-day cricket and wants to help shepherd Australia into a new era. Hayden, 36 in October, said he still had the desire to tackle what looms as a gruelling period for the Australian team. Australia are due to play up to 27 Tests, 50 one-day internationals and a dozen Twenty20 matches in the 18 months from September, a schedule Hayden wants to complete. "I will give myself the best chance to do it," Hayden told yesterday's Herald-Sun. "It's as big a year as anyone has ever had in cricket. I am in such a privileged position at the moment. I not only feel at the top of my game but I also love it and I am in a great position to be a role model."
■ Soccer
Becks to be introduced
David Beckham will be officially introduced as the newest member of the Los Angeles Galaxy on July 13 at the team's stadium in Carson. Beckham, currently vacationing, will arrive in Los Angeles a few days before his introductory news conference and first training session with the Major League Soccer team. Beckham is expected to make his playing debut in a friendly against England's Chelsea on July 21. Meanwhile, Victoria Beckham is set to make a splash on US television three days later when NBC airs a one-hour special titled Victoria Beckham: Coming to America.
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