Kevin Smith, who threatened Barry Sanders’ US college rushing record, will play for Sanders’ pro team after being taken in the third round of the National Football League (NFL) draft on Sunday.
The University of Central Florida running back and the US’ leading rusher last year was chosen with the first selection in the third round, the Lions trading with Miami to climb two spots in the draft order to select him.
The draft is the NFL’s annual ritual of hope, with teams selecting in reverse order of the previous season’s finish to restock their rosters in hopes of rebuilding or strengthening their talent pool.
Last season, Smith rushed for 2,567 yards and scored 29 touchdowns. Sanders’ set the single-season record with 2,628 in 1988, when he won the Heisman Trophy as the US’ college gridiron football’s best player. He went on to a NFL Hall of Fame career over the next decade with the Lions.
“I never thought of myself as chasing Barry Sanders. He’s a legend,” Smith said. “My numbers might have been close, but I was just thrilled to be close to someone like that. Now I get to play in the same organization, which is a dream come true.”
He was one of two All-Americans chosen in the third round. Penn State linebacker Dan Connor went to Carolina 10 spots later.
Other third-rounders looking to prove themselves in the NFL will be defensive back Chevis Jackson (Atlanta), running back Jacob Hester (San Diego) and receiver Early Doucet (Arizona), all from national champion Louisiana State University. Hester could fill the role of LaDainian Tomlinson’s stand-in previously held by Michael Turner, now with the Falcons, and the Cardinals need another wideout after losing Bryant Johnson to San Francisco.
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
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