■SOCCER
Shamrocks subdue Ronaldo
The world’s most expensive player, Cristiano Ronaldo, was kept at bay by semi-professional defenders in Dublin on Monday on his debut for Real Madrid as they eked out a 1-0 victory over Shamrock Rovers. In one of the more unlikely settings for the debut of the world’s most pricey player, Ronaldo — who cost Real around 94 million euros (US$134 million) from Manchester United early last month — was closely attended to and taken off at half-time having failed to sparkle against some muscular defending. Indeed it was one of Real’s other newboys, French international striker Karim Benzema who sealed the narrow victory with an 87th minute goal.
■SOCCER
Galaxy regret exchange
Los Angeles Galaxy coach and general manager Bruce Arena says the team regrets the exchange between David Beckham and a fan at halftime of its friendly against AC Milan, a day after Beckham was the target of booing and derisive banners held up by one of the team’s support groups during Beckham’s first home game since returning from a five-month loan to AC Milan. At halftime in Sunday’s 2-2 draw, Beckham walked toward the LA Riot Squad supporters seating section and motioned to a fan to come closer. A man jumped down from the seats and was arrested by police for trespassing. Arena said in a statement issued by the team that it is important for fans to be able to voice their opinions, but they must do so in an appropriate manner.
■SOCCER
Wife stabs Man U fan
Police have detained a Malaysian woman who allegedly stabbed her husband in the chest for coming home late after watching a soccer match between Manchester United and Malaysia, an official said on Tuesday. The man had promised to come back immediately after the match in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday evening, but his wife was “very angry” when he returned after midnight, district police chief Abdul Jalil Hassan said. The woman stabbed him twice in the chest with a kitchen knife and then took him to a hospital. “He was with friends after the match, so that’s why he came home late,” Abdul Jalil said. The man was recovering in the hospital, he said. Police have not decided whether to charge the woman with any offense. The English Premier League champions defeated Malaysia 3-2 on Saturday in their opening match on a preseason Asian tour.
■FOOTBALL
Vick completes sentence
Former National Football League star Michael Vick completed a federal prison sentence on Monday for his role in a dogfight conspiracy, opening the door for him to seek an NFL return. Vick has been under home confinement in Hampton, Virginia, for the past two months in completing the sentence he received in 2007. He is on three years of probation and has a three-year suspended sentence on state dogfighting charges.
■SOFTBALL
US win World Cup final
Lauren Lappin homered to start a three-run rally in the third inning as the US beat Australia 3-1 on Monday in the World Cup of Softball final in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Alissa Haber and Andrea Duran added RBI singles to push the lead to 3-0, and Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman combined to make it stand up for the Americans’ third straight World Cup title. The unbeaten US team outscored opponents 51-4, reasserting its dominance after losing the gold medal game at last year’s Olympics.
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