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ICC postpones competition
The International Cricket Council postponed the Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan yesterday after teams expressed security concerns. The ICC board met in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before announcing the decision. South Africa withdrew from the eight-team tournament on Friday, unwilling to travel to Pakistan for the Sept. 12-Sept. 28 tournament. Players and national boards from England, Australia and New Zealand had also expressed concerns. Media reports said the Champions Trophy will now be played next year, with the ICC still hoping to hold it in Pakistan.
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Robson says Becks must go
Sir Bobby Robson says England coach Fabio Capello must make a stand and drop David Beckham from his starting line-up ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign. With England due to face Andorra on Sept. 6 ahead of a tough meeting with Croatia former England boss Robson says Capello must be more decisive. “Fabio is meant to lead but the only place we’ve gone so far is round in circles,” Robson said in his Mail on Sunday column. Sir Bobby believes there is now little room for Beckham if England, who last week struggled to draw with the Czech Republic in a Wembley friendly, are to unearth a coherent system. “It means picking vibrant wide players rather than starting with David Beckham when he can’t get forward as he used to. It means banging Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard’s heads together and getting them to play as a unit. Because they can,” Robson said.
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Palermo make shock exit
Serie A team Palermo were knocked out in the Italian Cup third round on Saturday, beaten 2-1 at home by third division Ravenna. Promoted top-flight clubs Chievo and Lecce were also eliminated. Chievo lost 2-1 at home to third division Padova while Lecce slipped to a 1-0 home defeat by Serie B Salernitana. Goran Pandev’s double helped Lazio hammer Benevento 5-1 and Serie A rivals Atalanta, Bologna, Cagliari, Catania, Reggina, Siena and Torino also reached the two-legged fourth round. Serie A’s top eight from last season, including Cup holders AS Roma, enter the competition at the last-16 stage in November.
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Lyon win to share lead
Defending champion Lyon beat Grenoble 2-0 on Saturday and continued sharing the lead with Marseille in the French league. Marseille, spurred by a fatal crash involving club fans, edged Le Havre 1-0 with a 20m free kick from Boudewijn Zenden in the 56th minute. Marseille and Lyon have seven points after three rounds. Lyon’s Jean Makoun headed a corner kick from Kim Kallstrom in the sixth minute, and France forward Karim Benzema diverted in a free kick from Juninho in the 36th. “It was important for us to top the standings,” Benzema told Canal Plus TV. Benzema was the top striker in the league last season with 20 goals and has already notched three goals this month. “The target this season is to score more than 20 goals,” Benzema said. Two Marseille fans died in a bus crash on the way to the match at Le Havre. “We were all sad today and the only way to react was to win,” Zenden told the club’s Web site. “It was nice to have scored and won, especially for our fans.” The match started with a minute of silence. Elsewhere, it was: Le Mans 1, Saint-Etienne 0; Monaco 1, Caen 1; Nancy 0, Toulouse 0; Sochaux 1, Paris Saint-Germain 1; and Valenciennes 3, Lorient 1.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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