■PARALYMPICS
Japan grab first gold medal
Cross-country skier Yoshihiro Nitta gave Japan their first gold medal of the Paralympics on Thursday when he won the 10km classic (standing) in a time of 26 minutes, 29.5 seconds. The 29-year-old, who was 10th in the 3km biathlon, finished ahead of Kirill Mikhaylov of Russia, who won the 20km event, and Ukraine’s Grygorii Vovchynskyi. Until Thursday, Japan had won three bronze medals at the Games, all in Alpine skiing. “I have dreamed of this moment for the last year and this season I had imagined this victory every day before going to sleep,” said Nitta, the skipper of Japan’s team who had his right arm amputated when he was three after it was caught in a rice-shelling machine. Meanwhile, Canada’s Brian McKeever won his second gold medal of the Games when he clinched victory in the 10km cross-country for the visually impaired. McKeever, with brother Robin as his guide, won in a time of 26 minutes, 1.6 seconds to add to his win in the 20km event. Norway’s Helge Flo was second, with Nikolay Polukhin of Russia taking bronze. It was McKeever’s sixth career gold medal and ninth in total.
■SURF LIFESAVING
Teen dies at championships
A teenage surf lifesaver has died during the Australian championships, apparently when hit by his own surf ski in rough seas. Surf Life Saving Australia said yesterday that Saxon Bird of Sydney died after going missing late in the morning on Kurrawa Beach in an under-19 competition. Paramedics resuscitated Bird on the beach, but he died several hours later in hospital. The championships were suspended. Robert Gatenby, a 15-year-old,drowned at the 1996 nationals at the same beach when a cyclone hit. Yesterday, Cyclone Ului was creating strong rip tides and up to 2m waves.
■ICE HOCKEY
Wisniewski suspended
Anaheim Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski has been suspended for eight games for hitting Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook in the head, the NHL said on Thursday. The incident occurred late in the second period of Anaheim’s 4-2 victory on Wednesday. Wisniewski was given a minor penalty for charging and a dazed Seabrook was forced from the game. Wisniewski, 26, was suspended for two games in November for a wicked hit on Phoenix right wing Shane Doan.
■BASEBALL
Manager admits drug use
A day after acknowledging he failed a drug test for cocaine last year, Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington said he used marijuana and amphetamines while he was a player. Washington calls his past drug use a “youthful error.” He did not detail on Thursday how often he used those drugs. Washington says his mistakes from years ago have nothing to do with the situation now.
■BASEBALL
Mets head to Puerto Rico
The New York Mets will face the Florida Marlins in a three-game series in Puerto Rico in June, Major League Baseball (MLB) said on Thursday. Florida will be considered the home team for the series, to be played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan from June 28 to June 30. Bithorn Stadium hosted MLB’s Opening Day game in 2001 when the Toronto Blue Jays played the Texas Rangers. The Mets are no strangers to playing outside the US, having faced San Diego in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1996 and the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo in 2000.
■SOCCER
Riera slams ‘sinking ship’
Spanish international Albert Riera says he is considering leaving Liverpool, which he likened to a “sinking ship” under manager Rafael Benitez, because of the lack of time he gets on the field. “I would like to be here for the rest of my career, but players live to play. My objective is to go to the World Cup and for this I have to play,” he said during an interview on Thursday with Spain’s Radio Marca. “Right now the only market open is the Russian one, I have offers from two teams and, looking at my situation, that has made me reflect a lot.” The 27-year-old has made just two appearances for the club since January, both of which were in the Europa League. “When you stop counting on me in this way, it has to be something personal, that is the way things are,” he said. “If I’m doing something badly and you are my boss, and you value me, then you are going to come and tell me what I must to do to play again. This is what hurts me. I have been here two years and I know how he [Benitez] is. He has never sorted out a situation with a player by talking with him. He thinks he’s in charge and everything else falls on deaf ears. His dialogue with the players is practically nil.”
■SOCCER
Match-fixing ref banned
UEFA banned Ukrainian referee Oleh Orekhov from all soccer activities for life on Thursday for helping fix matches. UEFA said its disciplinary panel used “information from ongoing investigations by German police into match-fixing and corruption” in the case. The European soccer authority said Orekhov was charged with breaching “principles of loyalty and integrity.” Fraud and organized-crime officers in Bochum, Germany, have been investigating more than 200 matches played in at least 11 countries. Orekhov, who can appeal the verdict to UEFA, is the third referee to be sanctioned. Bosnian referee Novo Panic was banned for life last month and Croatian assistant referee Tomislav Setka was suspended until July 2011.
■SOCCER
Whiskey galore for Park
Beverage maker Pernod Ricard is hoping to cash in on the World Cup by combining two of South Korea’s favorite things in a limited-edition whiskey named after soccer star Park Ji-sung. Manchester United midfielder Park, who advertised local Hite beer before the 2002 World Cup finals, will be an integral member of the South Korean squad for the tournament in South Africa. “We expect the whiskey to appeal to fans ahead of the World Cup in South Africa in June,” an official at Pernod Ricard Korea told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
■CRICKET
Good news for Proteas
South Africa captain Graeme Smith is expected to recover from a fractured finger in time to play in the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies next month, Cricket South Africa said yesterday. Medical specialists reviewed x-rays and scans of the injury late on Thursday and believe that Smith will be back to full fitness in four weeks. Smith suffered a double fracture to his right middle finger while taking a catch in the Indian Premier League.
■RUGBY UNION
England to face Wallabies
England will visit Australia in June for two Tests against the Wallabies, the Rugby Football Union said on Thursday. Martin Johnson’s squad will face Australia in Perth on June 12 and in Sydney on June 19. England will also play the Australian Barbarians on June 8 and June 15, before traveling to face New Zealand Maori on June 23.
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