GOLF
Daly says pic caused injury
John Daly is suing organizers of the Honda Classic, claiming he injured himself while trying to stop his backswing after being distracted by a fan taking his picture while he was playing in the tournament. The two-time major winner filed a complaint in a Florida court on Wednesday seeking US$15,000 in damages, alleging he aggravated an old injury as a female patron took a flash picture of him during the 2007 edition of the tournament. Under the rules of entry for the tournament, spectators are prevented from taking cameras on to the course. Daly, who withdrew from the tournament, alleges that security was negligent because they allowed her on the course with a camera and failed to remove her after he told them she had a camera. In 2008, Daly smashed a spectator’s camera into a tree when the individual tried to take his photograph at the Australian Open in Sydney.
SOCCER
Ban for hooter shocker
The player who caused outrage by kicking an injured owl during a Colombian championship match was banned for two games and fined on Wednesday. The Colombian league ruled that Pereira defender Luis Moreno had provoked the crowd by kicking the bird which was regarded as a mascot by the fans of home team Atletico Junior. Moreno was fined 1,070,200 pesos (US$560) in addition to his ban following Sunday’s incident. The owl, which lived in the stadium roof, later died. The incident happened after the owl was hit by the ball, prompting the referee to stop play.
SOCCER
Schalke stun Bayern in Cup
Schalke 04 stunned holders Bayern Munich 1-0 with a goal from Raul to reach the German Cup final on Wednesday and improve their chances of playing European soccer next season. Schalke, lying 10th in the Bundesliga, will face second division Duisburg in Berlin in May after reaching the final for the first time since 2005. The defeat left last season’s domestic double winners Bayern with only the Champions League to fight for following a 3-1 Bundesliga defeat by Borussia Dortmund on Saturday that effectively ended their league title hopes. Visitors Schalke made the most of Bayern’s sloppy passing game in the first half to dominate in midfield. They threatened for the first time with a 14th-minute Raul volley. The Spaniard was on target a minute later when Benedikt Hoewedes headed on a corner and the 33-year-old striker drilled his header in from close range. Bayern upped the tempo from the start of the second half as Schalke fell back, going close through Arjen Robben but keeper Manuel Neuer twice denied the Dutchman. He denied Robben again before making his best save three minutes from time, stopping a Franck Ribery shot from 10m.
SOCCER
Hammers get stadium nod
The British government and the Mayor of London have formally approved West Ham’s bid to move into the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. The Premier League club was selected last month as the preferred tenant for the venue, beating a rival bid from Tottenham. The decision needed to be ratified by the government and Mayor Boris Johnson’s office, and the Department for Communities and Local Government granted that approval yesterday. West Ham plan to downsize the stadium from 80,000 to 60,000 seats and use it as a multipurpose venue.
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