GOLF
Mulroy sinks 80-footer
Garth Mulroy sank an 80-footer for birdie on the 16th to win his maiden Alfred Dunhill Championship in Leopard Creek, South Africa, on Sunday. The 33-year-old bogeyed the second to allow Jbe Kruger to level, before the latter’s challenge was ended by a double bogey six at the ninth when he found water. He finished at a championship record 19-under 269 over the 6,665m layout. This victory beats his previous best European Tour performances of second in this year’s Joburg Open and tied second in the 2008 Joburg Open. However, the ace, who plays out of North Carolina in the US, nearly blew his chances as he bogeyed the 14th at almost exactly the same time as Murray eagled the 15th, and the two players drew level.
BRIDGE
Cancer granny wins gold
A cancer-stricken Singaporean grandmother who postponed chemotherapy to compete in the Southeast Asian Games for the first time took an emotional gold over the weekend, according to a report yesterday. Tan Yoke Lan, 63, underwent a mastectomy after being diagnosed with stage two breast cancer and traveled to Indonesia against medical advice, Singapore’s Straits Times reported. She also deferred chemotherapy to kill the remaining cancerous cells in her body until after the Games, where on Sunday she earned a gold medal in the women’s pairs of bridge with partner Seet Choon Cheng. “Just a few weeks ago, I was unsure whether I would be able to make it here,” Tan, who has six grandchildren, was quoted as saying. “But I came because I didn’t want to let my partner and my teammates down.” The pair won Singapore’s first gold in the event, shedding tears and hugging each other at the Jayakarta Hotel in Palembang — which is co-hosting the Games with Jakarta. Tan overcame dizzy spells and had to take frequent rest between rounds of the game — which can last for up to 10 hours a day.
RUGBY UNION
Bath beat Montpellier
World Cup winning fly-half Stephen Donald inspired Bath to a 16-13 victory over Montpellier in their European Cup clash on Sunday to rebound from a last-minute opening defeat by Glasgow last weekend. Donald, who kicked the winning penalty in the All Blacks 8-7 World Cup final win over France last month, set up both their tries and kicked two penalties, while all of Montpellier’s points came from Argentine Martin Bustos Moyano. Victory sees Bath trail champions Leinster — who grabbed a last second draw with Montpellier on Saturday — by two points after they defeated Glasgow 38-13 earlier on Sunday.
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