■TENNIS
Wimbledon roof trial set
The first match to be played under the new retractable roof of Wimbledon’s Centre Court will take place in May. The All England Club, in a statement on Tuesday, said they “confirmed its intention to hold a ticketed event open to the public in the Centre Court ahead of The Championships 2009, in order to test the new roof and air conditioning system. The event is scheduled for Sunday, May 17 2009.” Wimbledon is perenially plagued by rain delays and the aim of installing the sliding roof on its showpiece court is to prevent matches piling up during the tournament.
■SNOOKER
Body investigates betting
The sport’s governing body is investigating a match at the UK Championship after British bookmakers reported suspicious betting patterns. Three firms suspended betting on Stephen Maguire’s win over Jamie Burnett in the first round on Monday after noticing unusually heavy betting on a score of 9-3 in Maguire’s favor. Maguire eventually won by the predicted score, but only after Burnett missed a black in the 12th frame that would have made it 8-4. The players have acknowledged that they were aware of speculation on the score before the match, but Burnett has denied any wrongdoing. “In the last frame, I have never felt more pressure in my life,” Burnett said. “On the black, I said to myself, ‘I need to get this, I need to get this,’ in case some people start talking. I just felt so under pressure, probably the most pressure I have felt in my life. Then to come off was the lowest feeling, I felt terrible,” Burnett said.
■SOCCER
Epic goes into fourth game
The English FA Cup tie between Droylsden and Chesterfield will go into a fourth match after floodlight failure forced the abandonment of their second-round replay on Tuesday. Chesterfield, who play in English soccer’s Division Three, led 2-0 when the lights at non-league Droylsden’s Butchers Arms Ground went out with about 20 minutes left. It was the third time the matchup failed to produce a winner. The original game on Nov. 29 was abandoned because of fog. Last week’s replay finished 2-2 but that match was overshadowed by a bizarre goal. The game was all square at 1-1 when Droylsden put the ball into touch deliberately following an injury to Chesterfield’s Carl Lamb. But, after Lamb got back on his feet, the ball was thrown to Jack Lester who, instead of just passing back to the Droylsden goalkeeper, as is the convention in such circumstances, lobbed Craig Mawson for a goal. Chaotic scenes ensued with stewards having to intervene to prevent a confrontation between the rival benches. When the game re-started Chesterfield, seemingly embarrassed by Lester’s goal, allowed Droylsden’s Steve Halford to run through unopposed from the kick-off to make it 2-2.
■CRICKET
Oram hits back at slur
New Zealand’s Jacob Oram hit back yesterday at suggestions by former teammate Craig McMillan that he seems too ready to pull out of games with injuries. McMillan said that Oram had been wrapped in cotton wool by team management. “You’ve always got sore calves, but you just get on and do it,” McMillan said. “Unfortunately, with Jake’s track record ... he has missed some games that maybe he could have got through.” Oram, who has missed five straight Tests through injury, said he did not expect to hear such comments from an ex-teammate. “He knows the rigors and the stresses of international cricket and it’s a bit rich saying if it’s 50-50, I don’t play,” he said.
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