■ENGLAND
Ferdinand off to Sunderland
West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand is Sunderland-bound after the London club accepted a bid reported to be approaching £8 million (US$14.7 million), Hammers boss Alan Curbishley said on Sunday. Curbishley told BBC Radio 5 Live: “The board have accepted the bid — he’s not renegotiated his contract — and the decision was taken out of my hands. I don’t know where Anton is in terms of signing for Sunderland — but once the club accept the bid it moves on.”
■SPAIN
Hleb says he needs time
Belarusian international midfielder Alexander Hleb, who joined Barcelona from Arsenal last month, said on Sunday he needs more time to fully adapt to the Spanish giants. “It takes time to adapt. It’s important for me to learn Spanish and to be able to communicate with my teammates and make myself understood on the pitch,” he said in comments published on the club’s Web site. The 27-year-old said he felt most comfortable playing “in the middle, behind the striker” but was able to shine in other positions. “I’ve learned to play in a lot of positions; on the left or on the right and in the middle of midfield, or further forward, wherever the manager needed me,” he said.
■RUSSIA
Danny set to leave Dynamo
Dynamo Moscow’s Portuguese international Daniel Miguel Alves Gomes, known as Danny, is expected to sign next week for UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg for a record 30 million euros (US$44 million), the Portuguese press reported on Sunday. “It’s great to be the most expensive player in the history of Russian football. Everything should be sorted by Monday,” the 25-year-old told the daily Diario de Noticias. The Portuguese press reported that Russian champions Zenit have accepted to pay the player’s 30-million-euro get out clause with Dynamo. The Venezuela-born midfielder played for the national side for the first time in Wednesday’s 5-0 friendly win over the Faroe Islands.He moved to Dynamo in 2005 from Sporting Lisbon.
■AUSTRIA
Firecracker deafens keeper
Rapid Vienna goalkeeper Georg Koch was hospitalized with hearing problems on Sunday after a firecracker thrown from the stands exploded near his head in the first half of a domestic league match against Austria Vienna. Koch damaged his ear canal when the cracker exploded in the sixth minute and afterward complained about being deaf in the right ear, Rapid Vienna team doctor Benno Zifko said. “Georg has a lot of pain and can’t hear,” Zifko said. “I can’t exclude permanent damage to his ear.” Police said they studied a video recording of the incident and arrested a suspect immediately after the match. The match was interrupted for about 15 minutes after the incident before resuming. Rapid won 3-0 to go atop the league standings.
■PORTUGAL
Porto start with win
Porto began the defense of their Portuguese premier league title with a 2-0 home win over Belenenses on Sunday. The champions went ahead after 15 minutes when Belenenses goalkeeper Paulo Cesar parried Argentine Lisandro Lopez’s shot and his compatriot Mariano Gonzalez knocked in the rebound. Belenenses were reduced to 10 men after 73 minutes when defender Graziano was sent off for a second bookable offence. Newly signed Brazilian Hulk wrapped up the three points with a searing left-footed shot into the top corner from 25m six minutes from the final whistle.
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