■TENNIS
Williams off to Paris
Roland Garros has never been the happiest of hunting grounds for Venus Williams, but the world No. 2 will get an early glimpse of the conditions in Paris when she was to headline the opening day of the French Open yesterday. Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was to kick off the action on Philippe Chatrier Court, while last year’s men’s surprise package Robin Soderling, now seeded fifth, was also to make a first day bow. In previous years, a first-round clash with wily Patty Schnyder may have looked a potential bananaskin for Williams, but the 31-year-old Swiss has struggled with injury this season and succumbed to the American for the loss of just four games in Rome earlier this month. Venus, who has won all 10 previous encounters against Schnyder, made her Roland Garros debut in 1997, a year after the Swiss, and made her only final appearance in 2002 when she lost to sister Serena.
■FORMULA ONE
Aussies charge Hamilton
British Formula One star Lewis Hamilton has been charged over a street “burnout” performed outside the Australian Grand Prix in March. In a summons served on his Australian solicitor last week, Hamilton was charged with intentionally losing control of a vehicle. A Victoria state police spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that a summons was served on a 25-year-old Swiss resident. The matter will be heard in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Aug. 24, although it is not known if Hamilton will have to appear. The Belgian Grand Prix is Aug. 29. Hamilton had his borrowed Mercedes impounded under Victoria’s so-called “hoon” laws on March 26 after he was allegedly intentionally spinning and skidding his tires at the entrance to the Grand Prix track at Albert Park.
■TENNIS
Sharapova beats Barrois
Russian top-seed Maria Sharapova beat Germany’s Kristina Barrois 7-5, 6-1 in the final of the WTA Strasbourg claycourt tournament in Strasbourg, France, on Saturday to secure her second title of this year. The former world No.1 trailed 3-5 in the first set to Barrois, who was contesting her first ever WTA final, but hit back to take it 7-5 and then cruised to victory in the second set. Sharapova had already beaten three-time Strasbourg champion and clay specialist Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain in Friday’s semi-final. The 23-year-old Russian superstar, who also tasted success at Memphis in February, has been seeded 12th for the French Open that began yesterday.
■SOCCER
Verbeek says farewell
Pim Verbeek gave his informal goodbye to Australia yesterday as he prepared to take the Socceroos to South Africa for the World Cup. The 54-year-old Dutchman will lead Australia against New Zealand today in the team’s final home match ahead of leaving for South Africa on Wednesday. Verbeek will leave the Socceroos after the World Cup to coach Morocco’s national youth teams. Verbeek led Australia to both the World Cup and Asian Cup and in 27 matches coached the team to 15 wins, eight draws and four losses — and more than twice as many goals scored as conceded. Verbeek was an assistant to his Australia predecessor Guus Hiddink with South Korea at the 2002 World Cup, where the co-host country made it to the semi-finals. Verbeek said it was tough to understand his team’s underdog status involving Australia’s other football codes — Australian Rules, rugby league and rugby union.
■INDY 500
Former champion crashes
Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan crashed during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday. The former IndyCar Series champion and Indy pole sitter did a 180-degree spin on the first qualifying lap, then had the car snap back around, slide up the track and hit the wall hard. Kanaan climbed out of the car without assistance. KV Racing Technology driver Mario Moraes crashed earlier in qualifying, also in the second turn, but appeared to not be seriously injured. Other drivers acknowledged the track was getting slick as they moved through the qualifying line for the first time. Qualifications will continue with the top nine cars participating in a 90-minute “shootout” to determine this year’s pole winner.
■ATHLETICS
Silver medalist banned
Jamaica’s 2001 World Championships 200m silver medalist Christopher Williams has been banned for two years, according to the IAAF Web site. Williams tested positive for an amphetamine at a meeting in Spain in July last year. Williams said on Saturday he took sleeping tablets and used an inhaler on his way to the meeting, and indicated the medications on a form filled out for doping control. He said he was disappointed with the two-year ban for a drug that wasn’t a steroid, especially since several athletes who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs got the same suspension. Williams blamed the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) for the way they handled the situation, saying they had not kept him properly informed after they learned he was to be sanctioned. Williams is the seventh Jamaican to test positive since last year. Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson, Allodin Fothergill, Sheri-Ann Brooks and Lanceford Spence were banned last year, while Bobby-Gaye Wilkins, who tested positive at the World Indoors in March, is awaiting a ruling.
■FOOTBALL
Hall of Famer dies, 78
Stan Jones, a member of American football’s Hall of Fame, died of complications associated with heart disease at his daughter’s home in Denver, Colorado, on Friday. He was 78. Jones was not only an all-star with the Chicago Bears in the 1950s and 1960s, but he was also an innovator of weight training in the National Football League. Once his playing days were over, Jones coached for more than 20 years in the NFL, including 18 seasons with the Denver Broncos. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991. Jones is survived by his daughter, three sons and five grandchildren.
■SOCCER
Messi injury declared minor
Lionel Messi scored in practice with Argentina on Saturday, a day after he was slowed by a minor injury to his right knee in another training session. Messi notched a goal, along with two more from Carlos Tevez and another from Angel Di Maria in a training match against an Argentine youth team. On Friday, Messi collided with captain Javier Mascherano, limped off the pitch and was missing for 25 minutes before the medical staff signaled his injury was minor. Argentina faces Canada today at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires in its last tuneup before it opens against Nigeria on June 12 in the World Cup in South Africa. Messi played on Saturday for 50 minutes, seemed to move easily, and left the field without commenting to reporters. The Argentine Football Association described the injury as “minor.”
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier