■CYCLING
Ventoso wins classic
Spaniard Francisco Ventoso of the CarmioOro team won the Paris-Brussels classic on Saturday to end Australia’s recent domination of the race. Ventoso dominated Frenchman Romain Feillu, who finished second, and Dutchman Stefan van Dijk, who was third, in a sprint to the finish line in the swanky Uccle quarter of Europe’s capital. Australian Robbie McEwen has won the race five times, while Saxo Bank’s Matt Goss kept the tradition up by winning last year. The finale to this year’s course, however, was toughened up by race organizers, with the addition of several small climbs before the finishing home straight.
■ATHLETICS
US wins DecaNation meet
David Oliver of the US won the 110m hurdles at the DecaNation athletics meet in Annecy, France, on Saturday without threatening Dayron Robles’ world record. Oliver, the Beijing bronze medalist, clocked 13.11 seconds to claim an easy win ahead of Garfield Darien of France, who was second in 13.65 seconds. Stefano Tedesco of Italy finished third in 13.68 seconds at the Parc des Sports. Three-time European gold medalist Christophe Lemaitre of France finished second in his home town in the 100m. Michael Rodgers of the US won in 10.13 seconds. Lao Yi of China was third in 10.51 seconds. The US won the meet, which pits seven nations against each other in the 10 decathlon disciplines.
■GOLF
Moore dresses for success
Sporting a retro shirt and tie ensemble on Saturday, Ryan Moore was dressed for success and his golf was equally sharp as a five-under 66 earned a one-shot lead after the BMW Championship third round. Moore, whose classic attire drew lots of attention, evoked memories of former greats like Bobby Jones when six birdies and one bogey gave him an eight-under total of 205 on a soggy day at the Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Illinois. Lurking one shot back are US Ryder Cup pair Matt Kuchar (70) and Dustin Johnson (68) and South Korea’s Charlie Wi (70). Britons Ian Poulter (69) and Paul Casey (69) were one shot further adrift on 207.
■GOLF
Kaymer grabs the lead
A sparkling finish by Martin Kaymer took him to the top of the Dutch Open leaderboard in Hilversum, Netherlands, on Saturday in his first tournament since winning the USPGA Championship. The German birdied the last two holes to complete a four-under 66 and a 10-under 200 total, one stroke better than Sweden’s Christian Nilsson and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti. Having watched three putts lip out on the back nine, Kaymer’s ball at last did the decent thing on the 17th hole by going in from 10 feet. On the 18th, Kaymer produced the sort of shot that earned him his first major title, pitching to less than a foot from an awkward lie in a bunker.
■GOLF
Karmis claims Handa title
Peter Karmis of South Africa completed a hard fought victory over compatriot Jbe Kruger to claim his first Asian Tour title at the Handa Singapore Classic yesterday. Karmis posted a one-under 71 for a four-day total of 21-under 267 to defeat Kruger by two strokes at the Orchid Country Club. Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul (68) signed off with a 270 total to finish in third place, his best placing this season, while Australia’s Scott Hend (67) was two strokes back on 272. Mardan Mamat was the best local performer, finishing in tied fifth place with Taiwan’s Chan Yih-shin and South Korea’s Young Nam on 273.
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