■ SOCCER
Feisty forward may play
Singapore's coach has not ruled out selecting feisty forward Noh Alam Shah, despite his one-year domestic ban for a frenzied attack on a national team mate. Radojko Avramovic said he would make a decision on whether to play Alam Shah, one of Asia's most prolific strikers, after he recovered from an ankle operation. During last month's Singapore Cup final, the Tampines Rovers striker kneed and elbowed Singapore Armed Forces defender Daniel Bennett in the chest before kneeing him in the back of the head as he lay on the floor grimacing in pain. Although he received a one-year domestic ban, Singapore's soccer federation said he would still be eligible for national team games.
■ BOXING
Aussie wins WBA title
Australian Danny Green is the new WBA light-heavyweight champion after beating Croatian belt holder Stipe Drews in a unanimous points decision in Perth, Australia, late on Sunday. Green won on all three judges' cards -- 118-111, 118-110, 120-108 -- over the 12 rounds at Challenge Stadium. Green's record now stands at 25 wins (22 by KO) and three defeats in 28 fights. The towering Drews is regarded as one of the most awkward opponents in world boxing with his superior reach and had lost only one of his 33 fights before winning the title against Italian Silvio Branco in April.
■ GOLF
Kingston wins in S Africa
James Kingston shot a 1-under 71 on Sunday to beat Oliver Wilson by one stroke at the South African Open. Kingston finished the final round as darkness set in after an earlier rain delay at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates course. The South African finished at 4-under 284 overall. Wilson (73) started the day with a one-stroke lead, but the Englishman bogeyed three holes on the front nine. Despite two birdies on the back, he couldn't catch Kingston. Kingston had three birdies on the front nine, but he added a bogey and a double-bogey. His birdie on the 11th made the difference. Greg Norman (71) finished in a tie for seventh, and ahead of Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Angel Cabrera. Els (69) rebounded from his second 77 and finished in a tie with Goosen (75) for 16th. Darren Clarke (68) tied for third with Kyron Sullivan (71), Louis Oosthuizen (71) and Garth Mulroy (73).
■ SOCCER
Coach wants to avoid China
The coach of the US under-23 side wants to avoid facing China if they qualify for next year's Olympics after a friendly between the teams ended with a contentious penalty and an ugly brawl. China's Olympic team drew with the US 3-3 in Guangzhou on Sunday after the home side converted an injury-time penalty which local media reports described as "dubious." China striker Du Zhenyu slotted home the spot-kick after team mate Wang Xiaolong had fallen in the penalty area under pressure from US defenders. Moments later, Wang and US captain Sacha Kljestan were both dismissed after a crude tackle by the former sparked a mass brawl between the teams. US coach Peter Nowak said the host's "very good" hospitality had not extended to the field of play, China's Titan newspaper reported. "All I can say is that I wish China luck during the Olympics, but if we qualify, I hope we don't meet them in the finals, because being the Olympic host, they're certain to have a lot of help," the paper quoted Nowak as saying.
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