SOCCER
1,000 games for Alexander
Graham Alexander became the second British outfield player to make 1,000 appearances when he came on as a late substitute in Burnley’s 2-1 home win over Swansea City in the Championship (second division) on Saturday. The 39-year-old, who made his debut for Scunthorpe United in 1988, follows ex-Scunthorpe team mate Tony Ford into the record books, alongside goalkeepers Peter Shilton, Pat Jennings, Ray Clemence and David Seaman.
SOCCER
Lille suffer another wobble
Lille’s position at the top of the French first division is looking precarious after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Bordeaux at home on Saturday. Lille were bidding for a positive reaction after sinking to a 1-0 defeat at struggling Monaco last weekend, but a 76th-minute equalizer from Vujadin Savic earned the visitors a point. The result left Lille four points clear of Marseille, who would close to within a point of the champions elect if they prevailed at Montpellier yesterday. Lille took the lead in the 58th minute when Yohan Cabaye released Moussa Sow, who clipped the ball inside Cedric Carrasso’s near post. However, with 14 minutes left Lille were punished when Savic met a corner with a near-post header. Earlier, Lorient came from behind to win 2-1 at Rennes and damage their Brittany rivals’ hopes of securing a Champions League place. Elsewhere, an injury-time free-kick by Dariusz Dudka brought Auxerre a much-needed 1-0 success at Toulouse that lifted the visitors out of the relegation zone. Second-bottom Lens remain in deep trouble, however, and are now six points from safety after a 1-1 draw at home to Brest. Caen dropped into the relegation zone berth vacated by Auxerre after losing 3-2 at Sochaux, while goal difference is all that keeps Monaco above Caen after they lost 3-2 at Nice. Dimitri Payet claimed a brace in a 2-1 victory for Saint-Etienne over Nancy.
BADMINTON
Players must wear skirts
Skirt selection could be as crucial as shot selection for the female shuttlers when they hit the court for this month’s India Super Series in New Delhi. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has introduced a new dress code, which comes into effect from May 1 and requires all female players to wear skirts or dresses in Grand Prix tournaments and above “to ensure attractive presentation of badminton.” Players may continue to wear shorts if they wish to but it has be underneath a skirt, as some already do. The BWF hopes the move will bring more fans to the sport and attract sponsors. Indian player Jwala Gutta does not support the idea. “I have no problems because I wear skirts on a off the court. I think they are just trying to glamorize the sport, but I don’t think it’s the right way. You can’t pressurize anybody to wear anything. What kind of clothes a person wears is totally up to them. It’s totally a personal choice,” the Commonwealth Games doubles gold medalist said.
CYCLING
Contador wins time trial
Alberto Contador stormed to victory in Saturday’s time trial at the Tour of Castilla and Leon. The triple Tour de France winner was pleased with his performance as he prepares for next month’s Tour of Italy. “I still have to work to reach my form for the [Tour of Italy] but I think I have enough time,” the Saxo Bank-SunGard rider told reporters. “The conclusions I can draw from this Tour are very good.” Contador is fighting to clear his name after testing positive for clenbuterol during last year’s Tour de France.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier