■SOCCER
Robinho may get his way
Real Madrid have said they do not want to keep Robinho against his will after the Brazil forward expressed his desire to join Chelsea before the transfer deadline expires next weekend. However, the Spanish champions made it clear Robinho will have to resolve his contractual position before he is allowed to move. “Real Madrid have become aware of the declarations by the player and deeply regret their content,” the club said in a statement on their Web site on Friday. “Real Madrid would never want to retain a player against his wishes and as a result they have no alternative but to accept his unilateral decision to rescind his contract if that is what the player wants.” Real did not make it clear if they would negotiate a deal with Chelsea for the sale of Robinho or if they were insisting he reaches an agreement to end his contract which has a buy-out clause of 150 million euros (US$223 million). Earlier on Friday, the Brazilian, who is under contract until 2010, said he was determined to sign for Chelsea. “I’ve told the president, the directors and the coach that my aim is to leave Real Madrid,” the 24-year-old told Spanish news agency EFE in an interview. “I’m telling the truth. I want to leave and I have got the character to tell the press that I’m not aiming to stay at Real Madrid ... I want to play in the Premier League,” he added.
■SOCCER
Novices top Bundesliga
Newcomers Hoffenheim topped the Bundesliga on the first day of the German league season a week ago to complete an impressive adventure from the lower divisions. Hoffenheim was ignored as unimportant small fry until the club managed to climb through four league levels, reaching the Bundesliga this season. To general astonishment the officially named TSG 1899 Hoffenheim topped the league after the first weekend of the campaign with a 3-0 win over Cottbus. Hoffenheim is backed by millionaire German businessman Dietmar Hopp, who made a fortune developing computer software and headed the giant SAP group. The 68-year-old Hopp returned to the club he played for when a youngster to pilot its sudden rise to prominence. Soon a new Dietmar Hopp stadium will open with a 30,000 capacity, almost 10 times the population of the town itself.
■SOCCER
Kaka to miss season opener
Brazilian star Kaka of AC Milan will miss the start of the Italian soccer season next Sunday, the club’s Web site said on Friday. Kaka underwent surgery in Brazil in May to correct a problem with his left knee. A club statement said: “Professor Martens confirmed that the player’s knee is inflammated, and advised him to continue for 15 days with the therapeutic protocol he is following.” AC Milan play Bologna in the first match of the season.
■FOOTBALL
Player suffers neck fracture
Houston Texans wide receiver Harry Williams was carried off the gridiron field after suffering a fracture of the neck during the first quarter of Friday’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys. Williams was hurt while attempting to tackle Dallas’ Isaiah Stanback on a kickoff just over two minutes into the contest. Williams collided with teammate Nick Ferguson and went down without moving. Williams suffered a fracture of the C3 vertebra and was to undergo surgery at Presbyterian Hospital. “He’s got movement throughout his body,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “All the feedback I’m getting is that Harry will be fine.”
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