■SOCCER
France to host Euro 2016
France were unveiled as hosts of Euro 2016 by UEFA president Michel Platini on Friday, the French bid beating strong opposition from the two other candidates — Turkey and Italy. France, hosting the competition for the third time after 1960 and 1984, prevailed with seven of the 13 votes cast by UEFA executive committee members in the second round of voting, edging Turkey by one vote. France’s candidacy was supported by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had spoken out in its favor at the final round of presentations to UEFA delegates in Geneva earlier on Friday. “We are very happy, very honored,” Sarkozy said.
■CRICKET
Malik’s ban lifted
Former captain Shoaib Malik will be available for Pakistan in next month’s Asia Cup and for the tour of England after a judge yesterday recommended lifting his ban for disciplinary offenses. Earlier this year, the Pakistan Cricket Board banned Malik from the national squad for a year and fined him 2 million rupees (US$23,270) for breaches of discipline while on tour. The PCB also punished six other players who took part in the tours of the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Australia. The punishments were referred to a retired judge for review.
■RALLYING
Ogier leads Citroen charge
France’s Sebastien Ogier led a Citroen charge ahead of Dani Sordo and reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb in the Rally of Portugal on Friday. Ogier took control on the third special, also winning the following four, to finish 26.6 seconds ahead of Spaniard Sordo, with France’s Loeb finishing the day in third, 44.8 seconds back. The Citroen Junior Team driver more that tripled his lead on the final stage thanks to Sordo suffering an accelerator problem on his C4. Citroen’s Petter Solberg also had problems, arriving at the finish control with his rear tire in shreds.
■ICE HOCKEY
Outdoor games planned
The NHL plans to hold an outdoor game in Calgary next season, marking the first one in Canada since the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Montreal Canadiens on a chilly afternoon in 2003. The Pittsburgh Penguins also plan to hold an outdoor game next season, commissioner Gary Bettman announced on Friday. The Calgary Flames are expected to play the Canadiens, while the Penguins will host the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. The Flames’ game will be held on Feb. 20 at McMahon Stadium, home of the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.
■BOXING
Mbaye takes vacant title
Souleymane Mbaye of France won a unanimous decision to beat Antonin Decarie of Canada and take the vacant WBA interim welterweight title. Mbaye won on all three judges’ scorecards on Friday, 116-113, 116-112 and 116-113. The 35-year-old Frenchman, a former WBA light-welterweight champion, improved his record to 39-3-1, with 21 knockouts. Mbaye handed the 27-year-old Decarie his first loss in 24 bouts.
■SOCCER
Rain stops play in Taipei
The inaugural Taiwan World Cup scheduled for yesterday at the Ying Feng Riverside Park in Dazhi had to be canceled because of heavy rain yesterday morning. A new date has not been determined.
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