■ CRICKET
Dilip Sardesai dies
Former India batsman Dilip Sardesai has died at the age of 66 after multiple organ failure, a Bombay Hospital spokesman said on Monday. Sardesai was recently admitted to hospital for a chest infection and had also been suffering from several health problems. He played 30 Tests between 1961 and 1972, collecting five hundreds and nine half-centuries at an average of just under 40. He scored 2,001 runs. Sardesai is best remembered for hitting 642 runs with three hundreds, including a double century, in India's first Test series victory in West Indies in 1970-1971. Later that year he scored 54 and 40 in the Oval Test before leg-spinner Bhagwat Chandrasekhar took six for 38 to spin the visitors to their maiden Test series win in England.
■ SOCCER
Kaka staying: AC Milan
AC Milan's designated administrator Adriano Galliani on Monday poured cold water on rumors that Brazilian star Kaka is heading to Real Madrid. Galliani said he can guarantee that the talented playmaker, widely regarded the world's best player of the moment, will be plying his trade at the San Siro next season. "I guarantee to Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon that on July 23 [when AC Milan regroup for pre-season training] Kaka will be present at Milanello [Milan's training headquarters] to begin preparation with his teammates," Galiani told his club's Web site. "On August 31 in Monaco he, as European champion, will play the final of the European Super Cup against Sevilla and then he will play in the World Club Championships in Japan in December." Real have been chasing Kaka for months.
■ RUGBY UNION
Tardy Lote Tuqiri banned
Australia winger Lote Tuqiri has been suspended for disciplinary reasons and will not play another international match before the World Cup. The Australian Rugby Union announced the two-match ban yesterday, saying Tuqiri had breached "team standards" and would not be selected for Saturday's match against South Africa or the Wallabies' last Tri-Nations match in New Zealand on July 21. Tuqiri was in the starting XV for Saturday's upset win over New Zealand in Melbourne. He failed to attend a team medical appointment and recovery session in Sydney on Monday. A later breath test showed a blood-alcohol reading above team limits. Tuqiri was also fined A$20,000 (US$17,130). The dual rugby league-rugby union international was still under a two-match suspended ban for an off-field incident at Cape Town in July 2005.
■ SOCCER
Portugal outclass Kiwis
Captain Bruno Gama scored twice, once via penalty, and Portugal outclassed New Zealand 2-0 at the U20 World Cup on Monday. The Group C contest was largely one-way traffic for the Europeans, who dominated but squandered several opportunities. The attacking foursome of Gama, Zequinha, Fabio Coentrao and Bruno Pereirinha fluidly switched positions, overwhelming the New Zealand defense. New Zealand, making its U20 World Cup debut, had to be content with scraps of possession, and relied on set plays for scoring chances. It's one first-half opportunity from the run of play nearing halftime was diffused in the penalty area by Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio. Portugal had nearly three times the possession of New Zealand, but managed to put only one shot on target, a free kick by Gama set up when Ian Hogg was called for a hacking foul.
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