■ GOLF
Watson wins in Valencia
Zimbabwe's Denis Watson won the AT&T Champions Classic for his third Champions Tour title in two seasons, beating Loren Roberts with a birdie on the third hole of a playoff on Sunday in Valencia, California. Watson, last year's Senior PGA Championship and Boeing Classic winner, birdied the par-5 18th in regulation for a 7-under 65 and a share of the top spot with Roberts (70) and Brad Bryant (72) at 7-under 209. Bryant was eliminated on the second extra hole. Watson, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, set up his winning putt with a 9-iron form 152 yards to 20 inches on the par-4 10th. "I'd like to watch that shot over and over again," Watson said. "That was so pure. That's as good a shot as I've hit in a long time." Last year, Tom Purtzer beat Roberts on the fourth hole of a playoff.
■ BASEBALL
Francoeur beaned in Jupiter
Jeff Francoeur was beaned in the second inning of the Atlanta Braves' game against the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Florida, on Sunday and was down for a few minutes before walking off the field. Francoeur did not lose consciousness, but had lacerations inside his lower lip. Team spokesman Brad Hainge said it was unclear whether he would need stitches. He was hit in the head by Cardinals right-hander Todd Wellemeyer. The outfielder was accompanied by a trainer on his walk to the visitor's clubhouse. Francoeur had the orbital bone around his right eye broken in 2004 when he played for Class A Myrtle Beach. He is batting .314 in 35 spring at-bats with one home run and eight RBIs. Gregor Blanco pinch ran for Francoeur and then replaced him in right field in the bottom of the second.
■ RUGBY UNION
Wallabies tour details
The Wallabies will play five Tests and a match with the Barbarians at Wembley on their European rugby tour in November, the Australian Rugby Union said yesterday. The Wallabies kick off their trip with a Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand in Hong Kong on Nov. 1, before consecutive weekend internationals against Six-Nations teams Italy, England, France and Wales. The tour will be completed with a match against the Barbarians at London's new Wembley stadium on Dec. 3, the ARU said. The Barbarians' match is at the invitation of the British Olympic Association and commemorates the Olympic gold medal for rugby won by Australia at the 1908 London Olympics at White City. The game also marks the 60th anniversary of the first meeting between the Wallabies and the Barbarians at Cardiff Arms Park in January, 1948.
■ SUMO
Asashoryu enjoys easy win
Grand champion Asashoryu had an easy win over Ama yesterday to retain the lead at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament and extend his undefeated record. In the day's final bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Asashoryu made several powerful thrusts into his opponent's chest, pushing the sekiwake out of the ring to extend his winning streak to a perfect 9-0 in the 15-day tourney. Asashoryu, who sat out two tournaments last year after being suspended for bad behavior, is seeking his 22nd Emperor's Cup. Mongolian Ama, who succumbed to the grand champion's powerful thrusts, fell to 4-5. In another major bout, Mongolian grand champion Hakuho grabbed hold of sekiwake Kotoshogiku and bulldozed him out of the ring. Hakuho is one victory behind Asashoryu in joint second place with two lower ranked wrestlers.
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