RUGBY SEVENS
New Zealand to face UK
Defending World Series champions New Zealand set up a quarter-final against England after finishing the first day of the season-opening Gold Coast Sevens in Australia on Friday unbeaten. Former Series winners Samoa and South Africa and reigning Rugby World Cup Sevens champions Wales also maintained 100 percent records, setting up quarter-final clashes against Australia, France and Fiji respectively. New Zealand, blooding four newcomers to the world circuit, dominated their pool, beating Kenya 26-5, Niue 38-0 and Fiji 28-5 as they set out in search of their 10th title in 13 years. South Africa recorded wins against the US, Japan and Australia, while last year’s champions, Samoa, beat Argentina 31-0 to help send France through to the quarter-finals. Harry Robinson scored twice as Wales surprised England 21-7 in the final Pool D match to reach the Cup quarter-finals as pool winners. However, South Africa coach Paul Treu was left with a potential headache after key playmaker Cecil Afrika damaged a rib.
Photo: AFP
SOCCER
Poland calls investigation
Polish Sports Minister Joanna Mucha announced in Warsaw on Friday that she had called in graft investigators amid swirling rumors of corruption at the top of the Euro 2012 host nation’s soccer association. “I have sent the chief prosecutor a letter informing him of suspected corruption under Article 296a of the criminal code,” Mucha told reporters, referring to a crime that carries up to five years in jail. “I have sent the same information to the Central Anti-corruption Bureau, and I have also asked the Polish Football Association [PZPN] for an explanation.” The spotlight is now firmly on Gregorz Lato, a former star Poland striker who has been at the helm of the PZPN since 2008. Already under pressure over his management style, Lato was identified by internal PZPN critics as one of two men speaking on a recording broadcast on Friday by rolling news channel TVN24. The other individual was said to be a close Lato aide. The duo were heard discussing the construction of a new PZPN headquarters and what profits could be made from it.
ICE HOCKEY
Deveaux suspended
New York Rangers forward Andre Deveaux has been suspended without pay for three games for an illegal check to the head of Florida forward Tomas Fleischmann, the NHL said on Friday. The incident occurred in the second period of Wednesday’s game against Florida when Deveaux stuck out his left leg while at the same time flaring his left elbow, league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan said in a video posted on the NHL Web site. “Deveaux’s elbow catches Fleischmann in the jaw, making his head the principal point of contact,” the NHL official said. “Reckless targeting was evident.” An injured Fleischmann went to the locker room after the play, but returned later in the period. Deveaux was given a five-minute match penalty by officials for an illegal check
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier