■GOLF
Player gets 18-month ban
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) says leading Australian amateur Daniel Nisbet has been given an 18-month ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for the possession of a prohibited substance. ASADA said yesterday the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service stopped Nisbet at Brisbane airport on Aug. 10 and seized a product in his possession listed as containing Norandrostene, an anabolic steroid. The matter was referred to ASADA as a possible violation of doping rules. It said analysis of the seized product confirmed the presence of a banned steroid. In imposing a reduced 18-month sanction, ASADA said the CAS stated that Nisbet’s conduct “was not aimed at cheating in his chosen sport. Among factors that the CAS took into consideration were that Nisbet was of good character, that there is no evidence he ever consumed a prohibited substance and that he fully cooperated with the investigating authorities.” Nisbet, 19, is No. 26 in the world amateur rankings.
■CRICKET
Ball-chewing star banned
Pakistan’s star all-rounder Shahid Afridi apologized on Sunday after being caught biting the ball in a match against Australia, a bizarre episode which cost him a two-match ban. Afridi, leading the team in the absence of rested captain Mohammad Yousuf, was caught by television cameras chewing on one side of the ball while walking with bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan in the fifth and final match in Perth. Under International Cricket Council rules any attempt to change the condition of the ball through illegal means is a violation of the players’ code of conduct. The on-field and third umpires reported the incident to match referee Ranjan Madugalle who handed the player a two-match ban. Afridi pleaded guilty. “I am ashamed. I did it in the heat of the moment as the match was a close one, but I should not have done that, it’s a serious offence,” Afridi said. “I apologize to all and everyone involved in the match and to the fans around the world.”
■SUMO
Ex-champ vows shake up
A former champion who has pledged to shake up the sport took a seat on its governing board after a surprise election win yesterday. Takanohana, now a stable master, pledged to help revitalize the sport, which has seen its fan base wither in the face of the rising popularity of baseball and soccer, and to campaign to have sumo taught in schools. “I don’t know whether I have caused a stir or not,” he said when asked about his campaign to challenge the sport’s establishment, which led to the first board election in the sumo association in eight years. “But I want to be more active in developing young talent and in reflecting their views in the process.”
■CURLING
Chinese going for gold
China’s women plan a dramatic Olympic debut in Vancouver later this month by sweeping their way to a surprise gold medal. The band of students from icy Harbin, who live and train at Beijing Sports University, rocked curling circles when they won the world championship in South Korea last year. After ranking second in the qualification for the Olympics, the former skaters are determined to upset hosts and favorites Canada. “We try to be like five fingers on one hand that hold the fist together to make a team,” skipper Wang Bingyu, said. “As newly crowned world champions and [an] Olympic rookie team, we will naturally be under a lot of psychological pressure. In order to focus on each rock, you have to turn that pressure into your power.”
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