■SOCCER
Scolari to coach Palmeiras
Former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will take charge at Brazilian club Palmeiras after his work as a commentator at the World Cup. His spokesman says Scolari has reached a deal to coach the four-time Brazilian champions until the end of 2012. Scolari was at Palmeiras from 1997 to 2000, helping them win the 1998 Brazilian Cup and the 1999 Copa Libertadores. It will be his first job in Brazil since coaching Chelsea and Uzbek club Bunyodkor. Scolari won the 2002 World Cup with Brazil and coached Portugal to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup.
■SOCCER
Real Sociedad return
Real Sociedad beat Celta Vigo 2-0 in Spain’s second division on Sunday to return to the topflight after a three-season absence. Xabi Prieto converted a penalty and Carlos Bueno added a goal in the second half as Real returned to La Liga after going down at the end of the 2006-2007 campaign. Levante will also play in the top flight next season, after two years in the second division, following a 3-1 win over Castellon. With one round of games left, Hercules and Real Betis have the best chance of taking the final promotion place. Xerez, Tenerife and Valladolid will all drop to the second division.
■SOCCER
Brescia win promotion
Brescia will play in the Serie A next season after beating Torino 2-1 in the second leg of the Italian second division playoff final. Brescia, who played out a scoreless draw in Turin on Wednesday, took a 34th minute lead on Sunday through Davide Possanzini before strike partner Andrea Caracciolo made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the 67th. Torino had defender Danilo D’Ambrosio sent off two minutes later, but still managed to pull a goal back through Rachid Arma in the 86th. They were reduced to nine men in the fourth minute of added time after Apimah Barusso was shown a red card. Brescia will join Lecce and Cesena in Italy’s top flight next season.
■CRICKET
India clinch T20 series
Suresh Raina struck a quick-fire 72 to guide India to a seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe on Sunday and a 2-0 win in their Twenty20 series. After limiting Zimbabwe to 140-5 at Harare Sports Club, India eased home with 144-3 and two overs to spare for a second victory in two days. Raina’s undefeated knock came off 44 balls, while opener Murali Vijay scored 46 off 39. Raina came to the crease after opener Naman Ojha (10) had been caught on the boundary by Tendai Chatara off Ray Price in the fifth over. The second wicket partnership ended when Vijay also tried to clear the boundary but was caught by Graeme Cremer in the deep off Chamu Chibhabha in the 15th over. However, India were left needing only another 30 runs to win the game with eight wickets and five overs in hand. Yusuf Pathan, who had been instrumental in Saturday’s victory, did not last long. He was out for four when he skied a Chatara delivery, giving an easy catch to Hamilton Masakadza at midwicket. Raina closed out the innings with Rohit Sharma who did not score. A good bowling and fielding effort from India earlier had caused real problems for Zimbabwe, who got off to a slow start and looked like they would not get past the 100 mark after losing wickets at regular intervals. The home side found themselves on 64-3 in the 13th over and it took a late surge from Tatenda Taibu, who top scored with 45, to make a difference. Ashok Dinda was the pick of India’s bowlers, finishing with figures of 2-15 from his four overs.
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