BADMINTON
Hsu wins Slovenia title
Taiwanese badminton player Hsu Jen-hao defeated 166 contestants from 21 countries to win the Slovenia International 2011 tournament. Taiwan’s representative office in Austria said it was the second championship Hsu has won in Europe so far this year. In February, he beat a Ukrainian player to claim the men’s singles title at the Austrian International Challenge. At the Slovenia tournament, Hsu trounced his opponents in the early stages of the contest to advance to the final, where he routed the top-seeded Guatemalan player Kevin Cordon 21-14, 19-21 and 21-10.
SOCCER
Busquets cleared for final
UEFA cleared Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets to play in the Champions League final after dismissing claims on Monday he racially insulted Real Madrid defender Marcelo during the semi-finals. Busquets was facing a five-match ban if UEFA’s disciplinary panel found the racial abuse allegation proven at a hearing held on Sunday. However, panel chairman Thomas Partl of Austria judged there was “a lack of strong and convincing evidence,” UEFA said in a statement. Marcelo, who is black, alleged that Busquets called him a “monkey” during an ill-tempered first-leg match on April 27 in Madrid, which Barcelona won 2-0.
SOCCER
Ajax nearly loses trophy
Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg usually has a safe pair of hands, but he managed to drop the Dutch league’s trophy from the top of a bus as the team took a triumphal ride through Amsterdam. Amateur video shows the trophy fall backward off the bus, apparently after colliding with overhead tram wires on Sunday. It was handed back by a fan, to the applause of onlookers. The incident resembles one from last month when Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos dropped Spain’s Copa del Rey trophy.
SOCCER
Japan quit Copa again
Japan have pulled out of the Copa America for the second time in six weeks after failing to get the release of their European-based players, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) said on Monday. The Japanese, who were invited to the July tournament in Argentina as guests, had been persuaded to reverse a decision to withdraw taken on April 4 following the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country in March. Japan Football Association president Junji Ogura also said it was difficult to assemble a squad of mainly home-based players since the domestic J-League calendar had been put back six weeks owing to the devastation from the earthquake and tsunami. The AFA said the South American Football Confederation would send an invitation to Costa Rica yesterday asking if they would like to replace Japan.
CYCLING
Swift takes California lead
Britain’s Ben Swift held off a hard-charging Peter Sagan to win the weather-shortened opening stage of the Tour of California on Monday. The 23-year-old Swift stormed into the lead, emerging from a large sprint pack to finish the 124km stage in two hours, 47 minutes and 12 seconds. It was the fifth win of the season for Swift, who competes for Team Sky. Slovakia’s Sagan, of Liquigas-Cannondale, finished right behind Swift in second and Aussie Matthew Goss, of HTC-Highroad, was third. Monday’s second stage was run on a shortened course because of snow and chilly temperatures in the Lake Tahoe area.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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