■ OLYMPICS
Centenarian trains for torch
A 103-year-old Beijing woman has volunteered to carry the torch in the 2008 Beijing Olympic relay, and is already training twice a day to get fit, a Chinese newspaper reported. Cao Zuozheng (曹佐政) came up with the idea after waiting three hours in her wheelchair to have her photo taken with a Chinese torchbearer for the Athens Games in 2004, the China Daily said. In hopes of winning a cameo role in the 137,000km relay, Cao was walking 300m twice a day with a stick, and insisted on washing her hair with cold water, "which she believes keeps her healthy," the paper said. "She frequently lifts her hand above her head as if holding a torch and `really enjoys doing it,'" it quoted Cao's youngest daughter as saying. Cao is one of nearly 22,000 Chinese people vying for a leg of the relay, the paper said.
■ FOOTBALL
Brady welcomes baby boy
It's a boy for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and actress Bridget Moynahan. She gave birth in Los Angeles on Wednesday, her publicist said in a statement. Moynahan and Brady split up late last year after a three-year relationship. Brady, who has been dating supermodel Gisele Bundchen, was not on the field or sidelines for the first 15 minutes of Patriots practice on Wednesday. Brady, who has quarterbacked the Patriots to three Super Bowl victories, said he wanted a few days off to attend the birth of his first child. It was unknown if he arrived before the baby was born.
■ SOCCER
Cicinho to join Roma
Brazil defender Cicinho is to join Roma from Real Madrid, the Spanish club said late on Wednesday. "The club sincerely thanks the Brazilian player for his work and wishes him the best of luck in his career," Madrid added in a statement posted on its Web site. Roma said it would pay 9 million euros (US$12.1 million) for the 27-year-old, who was due to arrive in Italy yesterday for a routine medical. Madrid signed Cicinho from Sao Paulo in December 2005 for a fee of 6 million euros after he helped Brazil win the Confederations Cup earlier that year. However, a serious right knee injury at the start of last season limited his appearances to seven matches for the campaign.
■ RUGBY UNION
Pumas call up Senillosa
Hernan Senillosa was called into Argentina's World Cup squad on Wednesday as a replacement for Martin Gaitan, who was being discharged from a Welsh hospital after heart trouble. Gaitan fainted at the Millennium Stadium after the Pumas' 27-20 loss to Wales on Saturday and was rushed to hospital where he underwent successful surgery on a partial tear in a coronary artery. Senillosa, from the Hindu club, has played 27 Tests since 2002. He was due to join the Pumas yesterday before a warmup match tomorrow in Brussels.
■ CRICKET
Hilfenhaus gets go-ahead
The International Cricket Council has allowed Ben Hilfenhaus to replace the injured Shaun Tait in Australia's Twenty20 World Cup squad. The ICC's technical committee said on Wednesday that it had approved the switch for the Sept. 11-24 tournament in South Africa. Tait was ruled out on on Monday by Australia's chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch. He said that Tait, who was a key player in Australia's limited overs World Cup success in the Caribbean this year, had not recovered sufficiently from elbow surgery.
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