DOPING
Drug firm pleads guilty
Chinese drug producer GeneScience Pharmaceutical Co pleaded guilty on Wednesday to smuggling Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which is used to enhance sporting performance, US officials said. The company and chief executive Lei Jin forfeited US$4.5 million in assets and will also pay US$3 million dollars “to finance a clean competition fund designed to counter the effects of illicit doping in sports,” the US Justice Department said in a statement. The company had previously forfeited US$2.7 million linked to its smuggling activities. Jin through GeneScience marketed HGH on the Internet under the brand name Jintropin and was bought in the US for distribution. “GeneScience never obtained approval from the FDA to market Jintropin in the US, where HGH is available only through doctor’s prescription for strictly defined uses,” officials said.
GOLF
Miyazato tries to widen lead
World No. 1 Ai Miyazato was trying to gain ground on South Korean money leader Shin Ji-yai and claim a sixth title this year at the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Alabama, yesterday. Miyazato and world No. 3 Cristie Kerr of the US were playing in the US$1.3 million event, the start of a six-week LPGA trek to two US events plus Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Mexico. “Right now, it might be a little bit more difficult. Situations are constantly changing,” Miyazato said. “The top five players are very close and in contention all the time.” Shin, the South Korean who sets the pace at US$1.46 million and Yani Tseng of Taiwan, the world No. 2 who ranks second with US$1.42 million this season, are both taking the week off. So is US star Michelle Wie. That opens the door for Miyazato, who has US$1.37 million in 16 events this season.
GOLF
McDowell to join US Tour
Europe’s Ryder Cup hero Graeme McDowell confirmed on Wednesday that he will be joining the USPGA Tour next year. The US Open champion, who beat Hunter Mahan in the final Ryder Cup singles match to clinch victory for Europe on Monday, is among nine members of the victorious team competing in this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. “Yes, I am joining the US Tour,” the Northern Irishman told a press conference. “I took out my card in 2006 and got injured at the start of the season and never really got a chance to experience it. So I want to give it a go next year, because it’s a non-Ryder Cup year and I would like to try the FedEx Cup playoffs.”
ATHLETICS
IAAF suspends Fraser
Olympic and world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser has been suspended for six months by the IAAF for a doping violation, the world governing body said on Wednesday. Fraser tested positive for the painkiller oxycodone at May’s Shanghai Diamond League meeting. She will be eligible to compete again on Jan. 7, the IAAF said on its Web site. In July, Fraser said she had taken tooth painkiller before the event and neglected to list it on a doping form. Fraser, a role model for Jamaican youth, said then she had mixed emotions about the positive test. “I take some responsibility because athletes are supposed to be responsible for what they take, but I am upset because everybody is starting to assume I am taking drugs ... My reputation is ruined somewhat,” she said.
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