■OLYMPICS
Boxing Kangaroo to stay
A triumphant Australia won its battle with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Sunday to display a controversial Boxing Kangaroo flag at the Winter Olympics athletes village. The image, which is draped over two storys of the village and flanked by eight Australian national flags, shows a yellow kangaroo with red boxing gloves. The IOC had ordered it to be taken down, claiming it was a registered trademark that violated Games rules, but the issue was resolved following talks between IOC president Jacques Rogge and Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates. Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Saturday slammed the IOC’s order as “ridiculous” and called for more flags bearing the famous symbol. “It’s a scandal,” Gillard told Australia’s Nine Network TV station. “I think we want to see a lot of the Boxing Kangaroo, particularly now that we’ve had this ridiculous ruling. So, yes, boxing kangaroos everywhere.”
■CYCLING
Sky Team win time trial
Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen defied strong winds to take the yellow jersey on the opening day of the Tour of Qatar as his Sky Team won Sunday’s 8.2km team time trial. The 22-year-old rider crossed the finish line in a time of 9 minutes, 41 seconds. Boasson Hagen’s Spanish teammate Juan Antonio Flecha won the silver jersey while Britain’s Geraint Thomas, also of Sky, was the fastest young rider. “Technically, we did a great job. It was good teamwork from the start to finish. I am satisfied,” Sky Team director Scott Sunderland said. Garmin-Transitions, which initially finished in third spot, moved up to second after a rider with the Cervelo Test Team was found guilty of an illegal maneuver, the UCI said. One minute was added to Cervelo’s overall time of 9:49, relegating the team to the back of the pack. Team Saxo Bank was lying third, ahead of Team HTC Columbia and Quick Step, whose Belgian rider Tom Boonen won the Tour of Qatar last year and finished 20 seconds adrift of Boasson Hagen on Sunday.
■BASEBALL
Dominicans win Series
Dominican Republic team Los Leones del Escogido won the Caribbean Series, defeating Venezuela’s Leones del Caracas 7-4 in the final game of the six-day series. The Dominicans finished 5-1, a game better than the Puerto Rican club Indios de Mayaguez, which finished 4-2. Indios beat Mexico’s Los Naranjeros 8-2 in the earlier game on Sunday with Mariano Santiago pitching five innings to pick up the victory. It was the third Caribbean Series title for the Dominican club and the 18th for a team from the Dominican Republic. The Dominicans scored four runs in the top of the first inning with pitcher Raul Valdes picking up the victory, his second of the series. Valdes worked five innings and gave up three hits and four runs, striking out five.
■SKI JUMPING
Germany win in Willingen
Former world No. 1 Martin Schmitt helped propel Germany to victory in Sunday’s World Cup team ski jumping event at Willingen, Germany, the final event before the Olympics. The Germans delighted the home fans as they scored 965.5 points, seeing off Norway (959.6) and Austria (937.1 pts) for a first team success since 2005, with that triumph coming at the same venue. Schmitt had taken three weeks off after a disappointing Four Hills tournament, which saw him come in 22nd. The Austrians would normally have expected to fare better, but left out favorites Gregor Schlierenzauer and Andreas Kofler.
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