■ FOOTBALL
Couch potato with a cause
Cleveland Browns football fan Mike Meredith has a motorized sofa — the “Go-Kouch” — that he usually rides around a municipal parking lot for tailgate parties before games. But on Nov. 23, he decided to take the couch, a converted riding mower, the extra two blocks to the Browns’ stadium for a game with Houston. Meredith told the Plain Dealer newspaper several police officers waved him through. One didn’t, issuing him citations for driving an unregistered vehicle and having expired plates. Meredith pleaded not guilty and was to argue his case in court yesterday. He has prepared a defense, walking the couch route and snapping pictures of every officer who gave him the go-ahead.
■SOCCER
Police arrest Govou
Lyon’s French international Sidney Govou was arrested and found five times over the legal blood alcohol content limit, police said on Monday. Govou was arrested in Lyon while driving during the night after Ligue 1 leaders Lyon’s 0-0 draw at home with Marseille in a top-of-the-table clash on Sunday, a Lyon police source said. A test showed the striker had 2.6g of alcohol per liter of blood. The French legal limit is 0.5g. The player, whose driving license was immediately confiscated, was held until he sobered up and released on Monday morning. He now faces a court hearing.
■SOCCER
Blackburn sacks Ince
Premier League side Blackburn Rovers sacked manager Paul Ince yesterday, the club said. Ince was in charge at Ewood Park for six months. The Rovers have suffered six consecutive league defeats and sit five points from safety in the relegation zone. “It is with great sadness that the board announce that Paul Ince is to leave the club,” Rovers chairman John Williams said in a statement. “Three wins in 17 games has seen a squad, which finished seventh last season, fall to 19th position … Paul will bounce back, he is a fighter, and we wish him well.” Former England midfielder Ince, 41, was appointed on a three-year deal in June this year, replacing his former United teammate Mark Hughes.
■SOCCER
No action against Rooney
UEFA has decided to take no disciplinary action against Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney over allegations he stamped on Aalborg’s Kasper Risgard in a Champions League game. Rooney trod on Risgard while the Aalborg player was on the turf as the United forward stumbled backward during last week’s 2-2 draw at Old Trafford. TV replays showed Rooney’s left boot land on Risgard’s chest and UEFA said it would analyze the footage. But soccer’s European governing body said on Monday it would not open any disciplinary proceedings against Rooney.
■CRICKET
Board donates funds
The Indian cricket board has donated 30 million rupees (US$624,350) to the families of security officials who died during last month’s attacks in Mumbai, it said on Monday. The England team have already donated half of Monday’s match fees from the first Test to attack victims. India’s Sachin Tendulkar dedicated one of his finest centuries to the families of victims. “From my point of view I look at it as an attack on India, not on Mumbai. It is an attack on India and it should hurt every Indian, not only people from Mumbai,” he said. “We are Indians and that is how I look at it. I would like to dedicate this hundred to all those people who have gone through such terrible times.”
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