BASEBALL
More kidnap suspects held
Venezuelan police said on Monday that two more suspects had been arrested in the kidnapping of Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos and that authorities were searching for several others. The men, a Colombian and a Venezuelan, were detained on Sunday in a car with several other people in the town of Moron, not far from where Ramos was held captive, national investigative police chief Humberto Ramirez told reporters. Police seized revolvers from the men and are searching for other suspects, Ramirez said at a news conference in the central city of Valencia. Ramos was seized at gunpoint outside his family’s home last week and was rescued by police commandos two days later at a remote hideout in the mountains of Carabobo state.
OLYMPICS
UK considers missiles
British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond has not ruled out anything to protect London during next year’s Olympics, including using surface-to-air missiles. Hammond said “all necessary measures” would be taken to ensure security. He told lawmakers on Monday that if the military recommends it, “appropriate ground-to-air defense” could be in place. Thousands of British soldiers are likely to be posted at Olympic venues after a security review for the Games showed that authorities may need to double the number of guards at stadiums and other Olympic sites.
BOXING
Man sentenced for shooting
The stepfather and former manager of a top female boxer was sentenced on Monday to six years in prison for shooting her in the hand and legs just before a world title fight in April last year. A district court in Berlin found 44-year-old Hicham el-Halabi guilty of grievous bodily harm after he shot his step-daughter, Rola el-Halabi, 26, in her dressing room before a world title fight on April 1. The Lebanese-born pugilist was due to contest the IBF lightweight title against Bosnia’s Irma Adler at a stadium in the Berlin suburbs. The victim of the attack was in court to hear her stepfather sentenced and wept openly as the sentence was passed. She was hit in the hand, foot, leg and knee before her attacker also shot two security guards having also beaten up her boyfriend, who he had forbidden her from seeing, in a separate attack several months previously.
BASEBALL
Kimbrel, Hellickson lauded
Atlanta Braves reliever Craig Kimbrel has been chosen as the National League’s Rookie of the Year and Tampa Bay pitcher Jeremy Hellickson earned the same honor for the American League. The awards were announced on Monday by Major League Baseball. Kimbrel established a major league record for saves by a rookie with 46. Hellickson went 13-10 with a 2.95 ERA in helping Tampa capture the AL wild-card berth.
TENNIS
Kvitova wins player title
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was voted WTA’s Player of the Year on Monday following a season in which she claimed her debut Grand Dlam title, steered the Czech Republic to Fed Cup glory and shot up 32 places in the world rankings. The Czech, who ended the year ranked second, picked up four prizes in total on Monday following a remarkable 12 months in which she won six titles and chalked up a 6-0 record in Fed Cup singles. “This season has been simply a dream,” the 21-year-old said in a statement after being voted to the top prize ahead of world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
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