■CRICKET
Aussie PM supports Howard
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said yesterday she will support her predecessor John Howard in his bid to become vice president of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Howard’s nomination was rejected on Wednesday at an ICC executive board meeting in Singapore, where up to six of the 10 full members of the sport’s world governing body signed a letter opposing him as the next ICC vice president. Howard has indicated he will not withdraw his nomination for the vice presidency, which would lead to the presidency of the ICC within two years. “John Howard, passionate, passionate cricket fan. I share some of the concerns he’s voiced publicly about the kind of factors that are influencing this decision,” Gillard said in a radio interview. “I’d be very happy to offer full support for John Howard to get this role.” New Zealand Prime Minister John Key earlier described the rejection of Howard’s nomination as a “shocking decision.” “He’s a great administrator and he loves his cricket ... even if he can’t bowl very well from what I’ve seen on TV,” Key said.
■TENNIS
Henin to miss US Open
Justine Henin has ruled herself out of this year’s US Open after discovering that an elbow injury she suffered at Wimbledon was worse than initially thought. The former world No. 1 fell heavily on her right elbow during her fourth-round loss to Kim Clijsters and tests revealed the damage will force her to miss the last grand slam of the year. “I took several medical examinations that have revealed a partial ligament fracture of the right elbow,” she said on her Web site on Thursday. “This injury will keep me away from the courts for a rough period of two months, with the consequence that I have withdrawn from the US Open [starting Aug. 30].”
■SOCCER
Platt teams up with Mancini
Former England midfielder David Platt has been appointed first-team coach at Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City, the big-spending Premier League club said on Thursday. Platt, 44, and Italian Mancini were teammates in Serie A at Sampdoria. “David brings a wealth of experience to his role as coach here at City, and he will enhance what is already an excellent team of staff at the club,” Mancini said on the City Web site. “We had a great relationship as teammates many years ago and I know he will make an important contribution to the club.” Platt had unsuccessful spells as manager of Sampdoria and English club Nottingham Forest before taking charge of the England Under-21 team from 2001 to 2004.
■BASEBALL
Diamondbacks fire Hinch
The Arizona Diamondbacks have taken drastic measures following a poor first half to the season by firing manager A.J. Hinch along with general manager Josh Byrnes, the team reported on its Web site on Thursday. The Diamondbacks named Kirk Gibson as interim manager and Jerry Dipoto as interim general manager for the remainder of a season that has seen Arizona (31-48) fall way off the pace at the bottom of the National League West division. Hinch took on his first managerial role when he was hired early last season after Arizona had sacked Bob Melvin and compiled a 89-123 record during his tenure. Byrnes took over as general manager four years ago and was at the post when the team reached the National League Championship Series in 2007. He was also responsible for hiring Hinch. Former Major League outfielder Gibson moves up from his position as Arizona’s bench coach, a job he has occupied since 2007.
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