■ SOCCER
Japanese club eyes Ronaldo
A cash-rich Japanese soccer club is interested in acquiring Brazilian superstar Ronaldo on loan as the AC Milan striker recovers from a ruptured tendon, a report said yesterday. The unidentified J-League club, rumored to be in or around the greater Tokyo area, has ¥1 billion (US$10 million) a year to spend on players, the daily tabloid Nikkan Gendai reported. The 31-year-old Ronaldo has ruled out retirement after undergoing surgery in February for a ruptured tendon in his left knee. He is expected to be sidelined for at least nine months. “He is expected to become able to run in May and train with the ball before the summer. That is enough to attract attention because he is Ronaldo,” the daily quoted an unnamed Japanese broadcaster as saying. “Depending on progress in his recovery, he may be asked to extend his loan period and play in the J-League in the 2009 season” which starts next March, the person said.
■ OLYMPICS
Rower completes trial
Controversial Australian rower Sally Robbins completed a time trial for this year’s Beijing Olympics in a double scull on Tuesday. Robbins, dubbed “Lay Down Sally” after she stopped rowing toward the end of the eights final at the 2004 Athens Games, now faces an anxious wait to see if she will row in Beijing in August. She was partnered in the trial by Catriona Sens, who was in the same eights boat as Robbins four years ago and infamously slapped her at a function after the Games. The pair negotiated the 2,000m course in seven minutes, 16.42 seconds in windy conditions at the Sydney International Regatta Center before taking part in a group hug with four other members of the sculls training squad. Donaldson has not yet decided whether Robbins will make the team for Beijing, due to be named next Tuesday.
■ SWIMMING
France rules out LZR ban
French swimming chief Claude Fauquet said on Tuesday that it would be “legally impossible” to ban competitors from wearing the record-breaking LZR Racer swimsuit at the French national championships, which act as qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics, starting in Dunkirk on Sunday. “My position is the same as the [French] Federation, which has decided that it will not prevent the wearing of equipment validated by the international federation [FINA] at the French championships,” Fauquet said. “Any athlete who could not wear this suit and did not qualify for the Games would go before any court and win his case, it’s obvious. I don’t feel like creating the conditions for a legal and political battle after the qualifiers.”
■ BASEBALL
Thome punished for arguing
Jim Thome of the Chicago White Sox was suspended for one game on Tuesday and fined an undisclosed sum by Major League Baseball for “inappropriate actions” during a game against Detroit last week. He was ejected for arguing a call after he struck out. Thome said he would not appeal and would serve his suspension on Tuesday, when the White Sox were home against Oakland. He said he was due for a day off anyway. “You get caught up in the situation, emotions. No grudges, you move on,” Thome said before the game against the A’s. Thome was ejected in the fifth inning last Friday following a third-strike call by plate umpire James Hoye. Replays showed the 3-2 pitch borderline low. Thome, the designated hitter, headed toward first thinking he had walked. He then turned and began arguing with Hoye. Manager Ozzie Guillen had to separate Thome from the umpire.
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