SOCCER
St Pauli beat Kaiserslautern
An own goal by Christian Tiffert gave St Pauli a 1-0 win over Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga on Friday. Tiffert headed into his own net in the 48th minute to inadvertently help St Pauli end a six-game winless run. Both teams now have 17 points.
CRICKET
Gibbs’ contract canceled
The international career of South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs appeared over on Friday after his contract with Cricket South Africa (CSA) was canceled by mutual consent. Gibbs, whose last appearance for the national team was 10 months ago in a one-day international against India, launched his autobiography, To the Point, last month and alleged a clique led by captain Graeme Smith wielded huge power. “It has been decided that this is the best way forward for both parties,” CSA chief executive Gerald Majola said in a statement released on Friday in Johannesburg. “Because of the sensitivity of the matter as well as confidentiality agreements signed between the parties, the matter is now closed and there will be no further comments.” Gibbs recently quit first-class cricket to concentrate on limited-over formats after a 90-Test career that yielded 6,167 runs at an average of 41.95 and included two double centuries. The 36-year-old right-hander from Cape Town amassed 8,094 one-day runs in 248 matches at the average of 36.13 during a 14-year international career.
SOCCER
Liverpool keep pair
Liverpool youngsters Daniel Pacheco and Martin Kelly were given new long-term contracts with the Premier League club on Friday. Spanish forward Pacheco, 19, signed a two-year contract extension which keeps him at Anfield until June 2014, while England Under-21 defender Kelly, 20, agreed a three-year extension, which will also see him remain on Merseyside until 2014. Pacheco has featured just once as a substitute for Roy Hodgson’s team so far this season, but Kelly has been more heavily involved, starting two league games and eight Europa League ties.
SOCCER
Redknapp lets Keane go
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp will allow Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane to leave White Hart Lane in the January transfer window. The 30-year-old, who was loaned out to Celtic for the second half of last season, has started just two games this campaign with Peter Crouch, Roman Pavyluchenko and Jermain Defoe all first choices. “I think he’d like to move — he wants to play,” Redknapp said. “He’s not used to not playing. All his career, he’s played and been a big player and he wants to play. He could sit here and take his wages, but that’s not him. It wasn’t easy when you respect somebody and what a good player he is or has been. It was hard, because he’s still a good player.”
SOCCER
Frozen pitch delays match
Manchester United’s away game at Blackpool yesterday was postponed because of a frozen pitch, the home club said on Friday. “[Match referee] Mr Peter Walton expressed concern that the severely affected areas of the playing surface would not thaw sufficiently for the game to be completed,” a statement on Blackpool’s Web site said. Meanwhile, United manager Alex Ferguson had good news about injured striker Michael Owen, who is back in training: “He’s doing very well. He took part in the football side of it yesterday, but I would say he’s two weeks away,” he 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