BASEBALL
Yanks drop six-man rotation
The New York Yankees have decided six pitchers in their starting rotation is one too many, manager Joe Girardi said on Thursday. “We feel we need to get it down to a five-man rotation and go with it,” Girardi told Major League Baseball’s Web site. The decision could leave either A.J. Burnett or Phil Hughes in a reduced role. There is only one spot open in a five-man rotation because the previous odd-man out, Ivan Nova, apparently has pitched well enough recently to earn a starting spot with C.C. Sabathia, Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia.
SOCCER
Former Mexico player killed
Authorities say former Mexico defender Ignacio Flores Ocaranza was killed in a late-night roadside attack that left his van riddled with bullets. The attorney general’s office for the state of Morelos said Flores was killed at a gas station late on Wednesday, and two of his brothers were wounded, apparently with rounds from an assault rifle. The motive is unknown. The office said in a statement on Thursday that the member of Mexico’s 1978 World Cup team was visiting his aging mother in the city of Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City. Flores played for Cruz Azul in the 1970s and 1980s and won five Mexican titles.
SOCCER
Players told to act proper
With the English Premier League season starting against the backdrop of civil disorder in England, soccer authorities are urging players to set a better example to youngsters. A crackdown on bad behavior on the pitch was launched on Thursday, including an attempt to eradicate unacceptable criticism and abuse of referees by players and managers. English Football Association chairman David Bernstein said the “Get on with the Game” initiative is “even more important in the light of what is happening in wider society.”
CYCLING
Voeckler to go against horse
French Tour de France hero Thomas Voeckler is set to pit his cycling skills against horse and jockey at a race course in Sables d’Olonne, France, next week, it was announced on Thursday. Voeckler, who rides for Europcar, had the hosts of the world’s premier cycling event dreaming of the first home winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985, when he spent 10 days in the yellow jersey last month. In the end the former French champion finished a commendable fourth overall, and nearly three weeks later he is still riding a wave of popular support that will see him take on top French jockey Eric Raffin on Wednesday. Such challenges between horses and cyclists are not uncommon, although Voeckler will have the benefit of racing on an asphalt track which has been built parallel to the grass at the race course.
ATHLETICS
Blood tests for all at worlds
Every athlete at the upcoming track and field world championships is to undergo a blood test in what the sport’s governing body says is an “unprecedented anti-doping program.” The IAAF said samples would be collected at a doping control station at the athletes’ village beginning on Thursday and analyzed at an onsite doping laboratory and again in Lausanne, Switzerland, after the championships. It is the first time “a heterogeneous population of nearly 2,000 elite athletes competing in a major sports event will be blood tested under the same optimal conditions, within the same time period,” the IAAF 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