■RUGBY UNION
Burger banned for gouging
Springboks Schalk Burger was banned for eight weeks for eye-gouging British Lions winger Luke Fitzgerald in his country’s dramatic second Test victory. Bakkies Botha was banned for two weeks for a dangerous charge on Lions prop Adam Jones, who had to have surgery on a dislocated shoulder. Burger and Botha will both miss the third and final South Africa-Lions Test in Johannesburg on Saturday. Burger will also miss the Springboks’ first three games in the Tri-Nations. Returning to play on Aug. 23, he could however feature in the final three games of the round-robin tournament between the ’Boks, Australia and New Zealand.
■CYCLING
Boonen clinches home title
Quick Step rider Tom Boonen became Belgian road cycling champion on Sunday after defeating Philippe Gilbert and Kristoff Goddart in a sprint finish. It was the 28-year-old’s first senior national title in his home country, after he was named under-23 road champion in 2001. On an undulating course that did not appear to suit him, Boonen overpowered pre-race favorite Gilbert in the race’s closing stages to clinch his fifth victory of the year. Boonen has been banned from racing in this year’s Tour de France by organizers the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) after testing positive for cocaine in an out-of-competition drug test in April. Quick Step have appealed ASO’s decision and a court will announce its verdict on the appeal on Tuesday.
■BASEBALL
Indians reactivate Cabrera
A day after offloading infielder Mark DeRosa, the Cleveland Indians activated Asdrubal Cabrera from the 15-day disabled list and named him at shortstop for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. Venezuelan infielder Cabrera, batting .316 with two homers and 27 RBIs before being sidelined from June 3 because of a shoulder injury, will take DeRosa’s roster spot, the team said. DeRosa, acquired by the Indians from the Chicago Cubs in the offseason, was traded to the St Louis Cardinals on Saturday night for reliever Chris Perez and a player to be named later. The Indians have the worst record in the American League this season and prop up the Central standings with a win-loss record of 31-45.
■TENNIS
Davenport gives birth
Former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport has given birth to a baby girl, her agent said on Sunday. Davenport, three time grand slam champion, returned to competitive action just three months after the birth of her son Jagger in June 2007. On that occasion she won three of her first four tournaments following her maternity leave. She has not indicated if she plans to make a comeback after the birth of her second child. The 33-year-old American has not played on the circuit since last year’s US Open.
■OLYMPICS
UK’s oldest Olympian dies
Godfrey Rampling, the UK’s oldest Olympian, has died, staff at his nursing home confirmed on Sunday. He was 100. Rampling, the father of film actress Charlotte Rampling, won gold in the 4x400ms relay at the 1936 Berlin Games. He died in his sleep on June 20, staff at the home said. Rampling celebrated his 100th birthday last month with his daughter and other family and friends and was welcomed by trumpeters from the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. He was born in Blackheath, southeast London, and spent 29 years in the Royal Artillery, retiring with the rank of colonel in 1958.
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