TENNIS
Top seed out in Barcelona
Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia upset top-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-1 in the opening round of the Barcelona Open on Monday. The 72nd-ranked Rybarikova broke the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up twice in the first set and three times in the second. Second-seeded Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania advanced when Zuzana Kucova of Slovakia retired while trailing 6-1, 5-0. No. 6 seed Roberta Vinci of Italy downed Silvia Soler Espinosa of Spain 6-2, 6-3. Other first-round winners included Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who beat Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
SOCCER
Almeria slip closer to drop
An own goal by goalkeeper Diego Alves gave Real Zaragoza a 1-0 win over Almeria on Monday which moved them out of the relegation zone but left their opponents firmly rooted to the foot of La Liga. Both teams went into the game on the back of poor runs but the situation was more worrying for bottom side Almeria who had lost their last four games. Zaragoza were creating the better openings but in-form Alves was blocking everything that came at him. Braulio Rodriguez and Ander Herrera had several good chances saved by the Brazilian shot stopper. Angel Lafita then shot weakly with just the ’keeper to beat and Nicolas Bertolo was denied by the post. Eventually Zaragoza found the back of the net in the 70th minute but it was thanks to a dose of misfortune that Alves did not deserve. A Gabi Fernandez shot came back off the woodwork and hit Alves’ shoulder before going in.
SOCCER
Fergie critical of TV drama
Sir Alex Ferguson has questioned the need for the making of a television drama about the 1958 Munich air crash that was broadcast in the UK on Monday. The BBC film told the story of the disaster that claimed the lives of eight of the club’s so-called “Busby Babes.” “I didn’t watch it. I was out last night,” said Ferguson, who was preparing for the first leg of United’s Champions League semi-final with German side Schalke. “I don’t think we need any TV program to portray the history of our club. That’s been well established for a long, long time. I haven’t seen it so I really don’t know much about it.” Legendary United manager Sir Matt Busby was seriously injured in the crash but went on to lead United to their first European Cup title in 1968. Busby’s son, Sandy, has strongly criticized the film, called United, and said the people behind it had made no attempt to contact his family. “I can’t understand it. It’s called United, all about the Busby Babes. You think they’d contact the Busby family, wouldn’t you?” he told BBC News.
SOCCER
Hertha return to Bundesliga
Hertha Berlin booked their place in the Bundesliga next season after clinching promotion with three games left to play following a 1-0 win at Duisburg. Hertha, who almost qualified for the Champions League in 2009, were relegated a year later after selling several top players, becoming the only major European capital without a top flight soccer team. “We are extremely happy,” said sports director Michael Preetz. “It is not understood that you go up straight after going down but we kept calm, worked hard. It was a damn hard year but our work paid off.” The Berliners earned their 21st win in 31 games after Adrian Ramos scored in the 27th minute. Hertha secured promotion after opening up a 12-point gap over third placed VfL Bochum with three games left.
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