■SOCCER
Scotsman backs England
While most Scotland fans hoped outsiders Andorra could spring a major shock by beating England at Wembley in Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier, one Scottish punter rejoiced in a home win. A customer of leading British bookmaker Ladbrokes in Livingston, near Edinburgh, staked £135,000 (US$220,787) on an England win — with Fabio Capello’s men at odds as short of 1/200 to defeat the minnows. England’s 6-0 thrashing of Andorra meant the customer won a mere £675 as a result of his substantial bet. Ladbrokes spokesman Robin Hutchison said: “I don’t know what’s less believable, a Scotsman backing England or someone risking £135,000 to win peanuts.”
■CYCLING
Evans back in yellow
Germany’s world time-trial champion Bert Grabsch of the Columbia team won the fourth stage of the Dauphine Libere race in Valence, France, on Wednesday, a 42.4km time trial. The 33-year-old German outpaced Australia’s two-time Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans by just seven seconds. However, Evans regained the overall leader’s yellow jersey he lost on Tuesday to Dutchman Niki Terpstra, who could only finish in 114th place, over five minutes behind the stage winner.
■SOCCER
Materazzi stays on at Inter
Italian World Cup winner Marco Materazzi has extended his contract with Serie A champions Inter Milan by one year to next year, the UEFA Web site reported on Wednesday. “He always played well when we needed him last season,” Inter president Massimo Moratti said of a player who was used sparingly during the 2008-2009 campaign. Materazzi, a 35-year-old center-back, has 41 Italy caps to his name but featured in only eight leagues matches last season, which was his eighth at the San Siro.
■SOCCER
Bafana demand bonus
South Africa’s hot-and-cold national team Bafana Bafana are demanding increased bonuses to play in the Confederations Cup, just four days away from the start, the local soccer association said on Wednesday. “The call to represent your country should be an honor ... not about how much you will get paid. There are many players out there who would appreciate the opportunity,” South African Football Association (SAFA) spokesman Morio Senyane said. He refused to say what players were demanding, but newspapers reported that Bafana Bafana players were demanding 34 million rand (US$4 million), while SAFA was prepared to pay the team 14 million rand. “As far as we are concerned the matter is closed, we made the offer way in advance and we never received any counter offers from the players until now,” Senyane said. The players were not available for comment.
■ICE HOCKEY
Stars fire coach: source
The Dallas Stars fired coach Dave Tippett on Wednesday, the first major move by the NHL team under new general manager Joe Nieuwendyk. A person familiar with the decision confirmed the firing to reporters on condition of anonymity because the team was not releasing the news. The Stars hired Nieuwendyk, who helped them win a Stanley Cup in 1999, 10 days ago. Canadian cable sports channel TSN quoted unidentified sources as saying the Stars had asked for permission to talk to former Los Angeles Kings coach Marc Crawford. Tippett was hired on May 21, 2002, and had a 271-59-162 record in six seasons.
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