SOCCER
Schalke 04 move up
Schalke 04 defeated Hertha Berlin 2-1 on Friday to move into second place in the Bundesliga, kept off top spot only on goal difference by Bayern Munich. The win put Schalke on 31 points, one ahead of Borussia Dortmund, who face Kaiserslautern today, while Borussia Moenchengladbach, also on 30 points, tackled rock-bottom Augsburg yesterday. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar opened the scoring in the 20th minute to take his season’s tally to 14 and sole possession of the leading scorers in Germany. Hertha, who came into the match on a run of three defeats and a draw, leveled five minutes later from a header by Colombian international Adrian Ramos. Huub Stevens’ team made sure of the three points when 21-year-old Finn Teemu Pukki found the target just before half-time.
SOCCER
Mechelen beat Anderlecht
Taiwan international Xavier Chen’s KV Mechelen pulled off a shock in the Belgian Jupiler League on Friday by beating league leaders RSC Anderlecht 2-1. David Destorme opened the scoring for the hosts on 16 minutes and the underdogs held the lead until halftime. Anderlecht hit back after 58 minutes through Matias Suarez, but the hosts won it in the 71st minute when Alessandro Cordaro scored the winner. Chen played the full 90 minutes. The win moved Mechelen up to 10th, while Anderlecht remain top ahead of the weekend’s matches.
GOLF
Price, Calcavecchia lead
Zimbabwe’s Nick Price and the US’ Mark Calcavecchia combined for a 9-under par 63 effort to share the lead on Friday after the opening round of the US$3 million Franklin Templeton Shootout. The US’ Brendan Steele and Keegan Bradley, the latter who won his first major title in August at the PGA Championship, matched Price and Calcavecchia on 63 after the opening round of the three-day, 12-duo event. Price aced the par-3 12th hole and sank a 30-footer for birdie to conclude the round, while Bradley and Steele charged late, going 7-under on the last six holes. The US’ Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker, the 2009 winners, were one stroke off the pace after the first round, with US prodigy Rickie Fowler and Colombia’s Camilo Villegas on 65 and the US’ Jason Dufner and Sean O’Hair fifth on 66. Australian Greg Norman, who captained the Internationals in their loss to the US in last month’s Presidents Cup at Melbourne, and the US’ Scott McCarron were 11th on 3-under after 18 holes.
GOLF
Tiger learns crime-solving
Tiger Woods went back to school in an eighth-grade class on Friday, getting an education in crime-solving and evidence analysis from his foundation’s youth program. Woods, who snapped a win drought of more than two years with a victory last weekend at the World Challenge charity event he hosts, took class at a Tiger Woods Learning Center at Murray Middle School in Stuart, Florida. The former world No. 1, a 14-time major champion chasing the all-time record of 18 set by Jack Nicklaus, joined in a forensics lesson that required students to examine evidence, question “suspects,” take fingerprint samples and study clues in order to solve a crime. “This is the second time I’ve taken our forensics class. I really enjoy it, and so do the kids. It’s unique, gets kids fired up about science and helps them explore careers in the field.” Woods took a page from US television’s three Crime Scene Investigators (CSI) shows in a posting on his Twitter page noting his participation in the class, saying he “Kicked it CSI style.”
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