■ SOCCER
Japan, Aussies make semis
Japan and Australia both secured a place in the semi-finals of the Women’s Asian Cup on Monday, joining North Korea and China. The Australians sneaked into the last four despite suffering a 3-1 defeat to Japan in their final Group B game in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. However, the result proved inconsequential as both sides progressed due to South Korea only beating Taiwan 2-0. All three sides ended on six points but Japan and Australia had a better goal difference.
■ SOCCER
Troubled star sectioned
Troubled former England player Paul Gascoigne has been sectioned under the mental health laws in Britain for the second time in five months, police said on Monday. The 41-year-old was detained in Hemel Hempstead near London after “appearing unwell and in an agitated state,” police said. “Officers arrived and accompanied the man to hospital so he could be checked over. He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act,” Hertfordshire Police said. Gascoigne was previously sectioned — meaning he was placed in a secure unit for his own safety — in February after reports that he had been acting strangely at a hotel and bar in Newcastle in his native northeast England. His sister Anna made a plea in a Sunday newspaper that his fans should not buy him alcohol, saying: “You will have blood on your hands.” She said she feared her brother would die unless he was sectioned. “I am not saying these words lightly. I want Paul to be sectioned to save his life. That is the last hope,” she told the Sunday Mirror.
■ OLYMPICS
Offensive guide gets chop
China’s Olympic Games organizers on Monday apologized over a guide to volunteers for the Paralympics in September which was deemed offensive. The guide, which has been withdrawn, was to help 30,000 volunteers understand how to deal with disabled athletes and spectators at the event. It described disabled people as “a special group” with “unique personalities and ways of thinking.” Physically disabled people “are often mentally healthy” but “might have unusual personalities because of disfigurement and disability,” it said. It went on to describe some disabled people as “isolated, unsocial and introspective” who “can be stubborn and controlling,” may be “sensitive and struggle with trust issues,” and “sometimes they are overly protective of themselves.” Blind people were meanwhile often “introverted,” had “deep and implicit feelings and seldom show strong emotions.” Volunteers were instructed not to call Paralympians or disabled spectators “crippled” or “paralyzed,” even if they were “just joking.”
■ SOCCER
Eriksson leaves Man City
Blackburn manager Mark Hughes was approached on Monday to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson at Manchester City after the Swede’s drawn-out departure was finally sealed following just one season in charge. City were immediately given permission by a reluctant Blackburn to begin discussions with Hughes. “I have enjoyed my time at Manchester City very much indeed,” Eriksson said on Monday in a statement. “In particular, I would like to thank the fans, players and staff for their amazing support over the season I wish the club, and everyone associated with it, much success in the coming years.” Manchester City said in a statement that Eriksson left by “mutual consent.” Speculation has linked the Swede with the vacant position of manager of the Mexican national team.
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