■ BOXING
Molitor retains title
Canadian Steve Molitor retained his IBF junior featherweight title and improved to 26-0 on Saturday with a points victory over Mexican Ricardo Castillo. Molitor won the title in 2006 and has now defended it three times. All three title defenses have been staged in the 5,200-seat hall at Casino Rama in Ontario. He stopped South African Takalani Ndlovu in July and outpointed Thailand's Fahsan Por Thawatchai -- fighting under the sponsored surname 3K Battery -- in October. "Castillo was 10 times better than 3K Battery" Molitor said.
■ SOCCER
Donovan breaks goal record
Landon Donovan became the all-time leading scorer in US history on Saturday when he converted a penalty in the 48th minute of a 2-0 victory over Sweden in a friendly international match. Donovan, 25, notched his 35th goal in 97 international appearances, surpassing the mark of 34 goals by Eric Wynalda. Eddie Robinson had opened the scoring for the hosts at the Home Depot Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson in the 15th minute, firing home from a corner kick from Brad Davis. The match against a Sweden "B" selection was part of the US' preparations for 2010 World Cup qualifying.
■ SOCCER
Fiorentina take points
Adrian Mutu and Christian Vieri scored from penalties on Saturday to give Fiorentina a 2-1 victory over visiting Torino in Italy's Serie A. Vieri put Fiorentina ahead as first-half injury time expired, after Mutu was fouled in the area. Torino midfielder Vince Grella equalized with a low shot in the 57th, but Mutu earned the second penalty in the 76th and converted it himself. Vieri's goal was his 200th in Italy's Serie A and B. In Saturday's other game, Marco Borriello and Luciano Figueroa scored to earn Genoa a 2-1 win over Atalanta. Cristiano Doni had given Atalanta the lead in the 68th minute.
■ SOCCER
Guinea goes soccer mad
Guinea's coastal capital Conakry was decked out in the red, yellow and green colors of the national side on Saturday as fans celebrated on the eve of their opening African Nations Cup match against hosts Ghana. A giant placard of a soccer player adorned a major roundabout at the entrance to the city, while whistle-blowing supporters stopped traffic to collect money for the team. Guineans are fanatical soccer fans and power cuts during televised Nations Cup matches have sparked riots in Conakry in previous years.
■ SOCCER
Becks visits Sierra Leone
David Beckham met with children in Sierra Leone on Saturday as part of his role as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, the UN child agency. The LA Galaxy midfielder arrived in West Africa late on Friday on a two day trip to a country struggling to recover from a 1991-2002 civil war. Infant and maternal mortality are among the highest in the world, where roads, schools and hospitals were devastated. "He's covering programs on child survival in Sierra Leone; visiting a number of UNICEF programs in the northern part of the country on malaria prevention and immunization." UNICEF spokeswoman Alison Parker said. The former England captain travelled beyond the hot hilly coastal capital Freetown on Saturday to deprived rural areas in the north of the country, once held by rebels during the war.
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