College Football
W Virginia beat S Florida
West Virginia held South Florida to a season-low for yards in a 20-6 victory on Thursday. Geno Smith threw two touchdown passes as the No. 25-ranked Mountaineers made the most out of their limited scoring opportunities in a game where neither offense thrived. South Florida were prevented from scoring an offensive touchdown for the second straight game. Quarterback B.J. Daniels found no room to roam and the Bulls were outgained 298-202. South Florida’s previous low for offense was 219 yards in a loss to Syracuse last week. West Virginia jumped ahead 17-3 at half-time and ate up clock time after that in posting a 12th straight home win. Both teams crossed midfield twice in the second half and managed only a field goal apiece. Last year, South Florida quarterback Daniels went through the Mountaineers for 336 yards of offense in a 30-19 win, but West Virginia had a better plan for him this time. Daniels ran 14 times for just 4 yards and completed 20 of 30 passes for 119 yards before being replaced late in the game. He was sacked four times and his three interceptions gave him 10 this season, surpassing his total for all of last year.
MotoGP
Lorenzo fastest Down Under
Newly crowned world champion Jorge Lorenzo posted the fastest time in opening practice yesterday ahead of tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix. The 23-year-old Spaniard put in the fastest lap at the windswept Phillip Island circuit in one minute, 41.146 seconds on his Fiat Yamaha. Lorenzo was 0.334 seconds quicker than Australian Casey Stoner (1:41.480), who is bidding for his fourth consecutive home MotoGP success riding his Ducati. “Today was the first day on the bike after we won the title and I am still very happy,” Lorenzo said. “We can’t stop now, we have to keep going and finish this season in the best way possible, working for the future.” Stoner’s US teammate Nicky Hayden was third-fastest, 0.485 seconds down, with 1:41.631. Seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi was seventh best with 1:42.626, some 1.480 seconds slower than his Yamaha teammate Lorenzo.
Judo
Judoka fights on as politician
Japan’s Ryoko Tani, one of the world’s most successful female judoka, retired from competition yesterday but promised to fight on as a politician to improve Japanese sport. Tani won a record seven world titles and took part in five Olympic Games, winning gold medals in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004). She had to settle for bronze in Beijing. “There’s no real change in my fighting spirit, I’m just retiring from the first round,” the smiling 35-year-old told a news conference. “I’d like to thank everyone throughout Japan and the world who cheered me on and supported me,” said Tani, who was elected to the upper house of parliament in July.
Cricket
Anderson suffers blow: report
England pace bowler James Anderson could miss the first two Ashes Tests against Australia this winter due to injury, according to a report yesterday. The Daily Mirror newspaper aid Anderson broke ribs during a recent England training camp in Germany, sustaining the injury while boxing. The report said the injury will take two months to heal, meaning Anderson could miss the opening two games in Brisbane and Adelaide. The Ashes series begins on Nov. 25. The English Cricket Board has so far failed to comment.
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