■SOCCER
Cup will be Park’s last
Manchester United and South Korea midfielder Park Ji-sung will play in his third and final World Cup tournament in South Africa next year, South Korean newspapers said yesterday. “The World Cup in 2010 will be my last,” Park told reporters at South Korea’s training facility, the daily Chosun Ilbo said. “I don’t think my stamina will last until the next one in 2014,” said the 28-year-old, who was instrumental in his country’s run to the last four of the 2002 finals on home soil. South Korea have already qualified for their seventh straight Cup finals appearance, with Park tied as the team’s top scorer during this campaign on four goals.
■SOCCER
Ditched striker complains
Peru striker Hernan Rengifo criticized the country’s soccer federation after he was left behind in the team hotel following Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier in Colombia, local media reported. “What happened with the team and the journey will remain on the consciences of the directors,” the Polish-based player told sports daily El Bocon. “They know their responsibilities.” Peruvian media said that the squad left their team hotel in Medellin earlier than planned, but that nobody told Rengifo of the change. His absence was only noted after the team’s charter flight had returned to Lima, the media said. “The directors know what they did, they’re responsible for everyone in the team,” Rengifo said. “So many things have happened in Peruvian football that it’s not surprising that unusual situations keep happening.”
■BADMINTON
British duo stage upset
World No. 19 Anthony Clark and Nathan Robertson sprung a major surprise to score the best win of their career together on Sunday when they won the men’s doubles title at the Singapore Open super series tournament. The British duo swept aside world champions and Olympic gold medalists Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 21-12, 21-11 in just 26 minutes. Robertson said in a media release: “We just played our best game today. It was close to perfect as I think we made just two errors in the whole match. I don’t think anyone will underestimate us any more after this.” The fired-up pair now head for the Indonesian Open starting today. The men’s singles title went to Bao Chunlai of China who beat Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana 21-19, 16-21, 21-15.
■RUGBY union
Dunning signs with Force
Wallabies test prop Matt Dunning has signed a two-year deal with the Western Force, the team said yesterday. Dunning, who has just resumed playing after missing this year’s season with an achilles tendon injury, will join the Force next year after spending nine seasons with the New South Wales Waratahs. The Force’s general manager Mitch Hardy said Dunning was a welcome addition. “Matt is a very experienced tighthead prop and a player who has been an integral part of the Wallabies for a number of years,” Hardy said.
■MOTOCROSS
Rider dies after crash
Race organizers say Spanish motocross rider Ricardo Monzonis died after a crash during an MX2 category event. Monzonis was taken to a nearby regional hospital in Vinaros on Spain’s eastern Mediterranean coast on Sunday, but that medical teams could not save his life. The accident happened during the Ciudad de Vinaros motocross when several riders collided during a jump. Organizers said no other rider was seriously injured. The race was stopped after the accident.
■HOCKEY
Gonchar plays despite knee
Pittsburgh’s Sergei Gonchar played the last two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a partially torn knee ligament that could have sidelined him for months. Gonchar was hurt in a knee-to-knee hit by Washington star Alex Ovechkin in game four of the National Hockey League Eastern Conference semi-finals. He played through the injury, fired by the goal of winning a first Stanley Cup in an NHL career that began in the 1994 to 1995 season. Gonchar missed two games, returned for game seven of that series against Washington, played in the conference finals against Carolina and in the Stanley Cup finals — in which the Penguins vanquished Detroit in seven games.
■BOXING
Mayweather postpones fight
The July 18 fight between unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr and Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez has been postponed after Mayweather injured a rib in training. Mayweather had announced the bout on May 2, signaling an end to his 17-month absence from the ring hours before Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao delivered a devastating knockout of England’s Ricky Hatton. The American, 39-0 with 25 knockouts, was to take on Mexico’s Marquez in the same arena where he last fought, stopping Hatton in the 10th round in December 2007 to keep the undisputed welterweight title.
■CYCLING
Eisel wins second stage
Austria’s Bernhard Eisel won the second stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday, sprinting to victory in the 150km run at Davos. The Columbia rider finished ahead of Germany’s Gerald Ciolek and Spain’s triple world champion Oscar Freire while Fabian Cancellara, who was 11th, kept the overall lead. After teammate Tony Martin had attacked on a first category climb, moving into the lead of the King of the Mountains classification, Eisel seized his chance in the 100-rider bunch sprint. It was his first victory since the Paris-Bourges one-day race last autumn. “I went for a long sprint, found my own line and, above all, I didn’t look back until I crossed that finish line,” Eisel said.
■SAILING
Volvo race resumes
The yachts in the Volvo race headed for Stockholm on Sunday in the ninth stage of the round-the-world event, but there was drama as Spanish entry Telefonica Blue hit a rock as the boats left the Swedish port of Marstrand. Telefonica’s keel became wedged in the rock as it was leading the stage less than two hours after the yachts set off on a 845km sprint to the Swedish capital. None of the crew were hurt and the boat was freed after 90 minutes and taken back to port for repairs. It was a hard blow for Telefonica, which is in third place overall, just one point behind US entry Puma Ocean Racing. Sweden’s Ericsson 4 has a 15-point advantage over Puma, and is expected to seal overall victory when the yachts reach Stockholm tomorrow or on Wednesday.
■GOLF
Immelman leaves US Open
Trevor Immelman, last year’s US Masters champion, has withdrawn from next week’s US Open because of tendinitis in his left wrist and elbow, organizers said on Sunday. The 29-year-old South African has been replaced in the 156-strong field at Bethpage State Park by American Clinton Jensen. World No. 43 Immelman was the second top-50 player to pull out of the 109th US Open.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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