■MOTOGP
Rain washes out Qatar race
The season-opening Qatar MotoGP was postponed on Sunday because of adverse weather. Qatar’s Losail International Circuit on the outskirts of Doha was lashed by heavy rain on Sunday, forcing the postponement of the night-time race to last night. The 125cc race and 250cc Grand Prix were shortened, but the main showpiece was unable to get underway. “For safety reasons it was not possible to race in the night due to the reflection of the lights on the track,” Claude Danis, Road-racing Commission president for the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), said in a statement posted on the FIM’s Web site.
■CYCLING
Spectators mob local hero
Local Greg Minnaar was mobbed by spectators after winning the downhill race on Sunday at the World Mountain Bike Cup in Pietermaritzbug, South Africa. He received a reception normally reserved for South African soccer, rugby and cricket stars after pipping Australian Mike Hannah for first place on a forest-lined course near the KwaZulu-Natal city. Competition was fierce, with 28 finalists cracking the four-minute barrier, and Minnaar clocked 3:43.44 after sailing over jumps and pedaling furiously through flatter sections. Hannah was last to race and finished 2.25 seconds slower to settle for second spot ahead of Englishman Steve Peat on a 3km course littered with sharp drop-offs and jumps. Tracy Moseley of England turned 30 in style by winning the women’s downhill race in 4:20.15 after Emmeline Ragot and Sabrina Jonnier of France surrendered the lead. The first world mountain bike event to be staged in Africa attracted 16,000 spectators over a holiday weekend to far exceed organizers’ expectations.
■CRICKET
Vaughan suffers setback
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan suffered a setback in his attempts to force his way back into the Ashes reckoning when he made just 12 playing for the MCC against county champions Durham on Sunday. The 34-year-old is determined to claim the No. 3 spot for the coming series against the West Indies and Australia, but with the squad to face the West Indians in the first Test due to be named next weekend, time is running out. Vaughan’s only consolation was that Ian Bell, another No. 3 hopeful, was also out for 12 as the traditional curtain-raiser to the English season ended in a rain-affected draw at Lord’s. Yorkshireman Vaughan was dismissed by former Headingley colleague Mitchell Claydon — an Australian now qualified for England by virtue of his British passport — who believes the former skipper has a role to play in the Ashes.
■RUGBY UNION
Bakkies awaits his fate
The decision in the judicial hearing for Northern Bulls lock Bakkies Botha over an incident during a weekend match against the NSW Waratahs will be announced today, SANZAR said. Judicial officer Dennis Wheelahan held over his decision pending further consideration, a statement by the ruling body for Rugby Union in the southern hemisphere said. The Springbok forward was cited and charged with striking in an incident in Saturday’s Super 14 match between the Bulls and the NSW Waratahs at Sydney Football Stadium. Botha appeared before Wheelahan in Sydney on Monday, along with members of the Bulls’ team management and legal representatives, SANZAR said. Evidence tendered at the hearing included video footage supplied by the match broadcasters.
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