■ Cricket
Odoyo powers Kenya to win
Kenya's vice-captain Thomas Odoyo scored his first century in a one day international on Thursday to set up a four-wicket victory against Canada in the first ODI match at the Nairobi Gymkhana club. The Canadians had posted 230 with a half-century from the impressive 36-year old rookie Arvind Kandappah. In reply, Kenya at 49-5, appeared to be deep in trouble before Odoyo turned the game on its head hitting 11 fours for his 111 off 113 balls to clinch victory. Odoyo put on 86 for the sixth wicket with 19-year-old Alex Obanda.
■ Soccer
Beckham back for Galaxy
English star David Beckham took five corner kicks and showed off his slick passing skills after coming on as a late substitute in Los Angeles Galaxy's 1-1 draw against New York on Thursday. Beckham came off the bench in the 67th minute for Peter Vagenas after missing 10 games with a knee injury. His appearance seemed to spark his Galaxy teammates but they couldn't convert their chances into goals as they tussle for one of Major League Soccer's final playoff spots. The tie extended their unbeaten streak to seven but snapped a five-game winning streak. A loss would have ended the Galaxy season as they are now three points adrift of Kansas City and Chicago in the playoff race. They have one game remaining against Chicago in the Windy City tomorrow.
■ Soccer
Fergie attacker jailed
A man who punched Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in the groin outside a London train station last month was jailed for 15 months on Thursday. The 43-year-old Kevin Reynolds from Scotland, who was described as a homeless "fighting drunk" in court, had pleaded guilty to assault and to attacking and racially abusing a police support officer who was called to the scene. Ferguson was waiting to be picked up outside Euston train station in central London after traveling from Manchester to attend an annual charity event when the attack happened on Sept. 10. He had soreness and tenderness after being punched, but was not seriously injured. Reynolds had been released from a prison sentence for assaulting a police officer just five days before the attack on Ferguson. The court heard that Reynolds punched him and said: "I'm sorry Fergie, I did not know it was you."
■ Cycling
Di Luca excluded from Tour
Danilo Di Luca was excluded from the UCI Pro Tour on Thursday, two days after he was banned for three months by the Italian Olympic Committee following a doping investigation. CONI suspended Di Luca for his ties to Italian doctor Carlo Santuccione, who allegedly provided athletes with doping products in what anti-doping prosecutors have labeled the "Oil for Drugs" case. Santuccione served a five-year suspension from 1995-2000. Di Luca had led second-place Cadel Evans of Australia by 15 points for the overall title going into today's season-ending Giro di Lombardia. Evans now leads the rankings with 227 points, followed by Tour de France winner Alberto Contador with 191 and UCI Pro Tour defending champion Alejandro Valverde with 190. Contador or Valverde will need to place at least second today and hope Evans finishes outside the top seven to clinch the title.
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