■TCHOUKBALL
Taiwan sweeps tournament
Taiwan won five of the six gold medals that were up for grabs at the Asia Pacific Tchoukball Championships in Singapore from Friday to Sunday, the leader of the squad said yesterday. The wins put Taiwan ahead of Switzerland as the world’s top ranked Tchoukball team in terms of accumulated score, according to Huang Chin-cheng, president of the International Tchoukball Federation, which is based in Kaohsiung County. Except for the boys’ under-12 category in which Taiwan did not compete, it won in all the other groups — men’s, women’s, boys’ under-18, girls’ under-18, and girls’ under-12. Huang said Taiwan gave an outstanding performance at the championships because of the endurance of its athletes, the devotion of its coaches and the fact that tchoukball has been played as sport in the country for 30 years. Tchoukball is an indoor sport that combines elements of volleyball and squash.
■FOOTBALL
Vick fails to show up
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick missed his own celebrity golf tournament this weekend after probation authorities restricted his travel, a Vick spokeswoman said. Judy Smith said Vick’s travel has been at the discretion of his probation officer since he was released from federal prison after serving a sentence for his role in a dogfighting ring. The travel limits come after a Virginia prosecutor said that while Vick wasn’t involved in a shooting outside a restaurant after his 30th birthday party in Virginia Beach, the player was in a confrontation before the incident.
■FIELD HOCKEY
Netherlands victorious
The Netherlands swept to a second consecutive victory at the women’s Champions Trophy field hockey tournament in Nottingham, England, on Sunday, beating host nation England 3-0, while Germany drew 2-2 with Argentina. China beat New Zealand 3-1 in the day’s other match in the round robin stage of the six-nation competition at Nottingham Highfields Sports Centre. The Dutch team, which opened with a 3-1 win over New Zealand on Saturday, took the lead in the 23rd minute through Ellen Hoog. It went 2-0 up before halftime, with a close-range finish by Kelly Jonker after a rapid counter-attack following a penalty corner for England. Eva de Goede scored a late third goal. Germany led 1-0 at halftime in its match following a strike by Natascha Keller, but goals from Mariana Rossi and Noel Barrionuevo put Argentina in front. Captain Tina Bachmann leveled for the Germans with a penalty corner. Day two of the tournament ended with Fu Baorong scoring twice for China, either side of a strike by Song Qingling. Charlotte Harrison bundled home a late consolation goal for New Zealand.
■BASEBALL
Old-time announcer dies
Bob Sheppard, the New York Yankees’ public address announcer who welcomed fans to Yankee Stadium for more than 50 years, died on Sunday at the age of 99. “I am deeply saddened by the death today of Bob Sheppard, a good friend and fine man, whose voice set the gold standard for America’s sports announcers,” Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement. “For over a half century, fans were thrilled to hear his unforgettable voice and players were thrilled to hear his majestic enunciation of their names.”
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