BASEBALL
Braun tested positive: ESPN
The NL’s Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and could face a 50-game ban if the finding is confirmed, ESPN reported on Saturday. The sports network cited two sources familiar with the case, but MLB has not announced any positive test for Braun, who is said to be disputing the result. A spokesman for Braun issued a statement on Saturday saying the player expected to be “exonerated.” “There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan’s complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program,” the statement said. Braun, 28, provided the urine sample for the test during the playoffs and was notified of the positive result in late October, ESPN reported.
RUGBY SEVENS
Cama’s try give NZ win
Tomasi Cama scored a last-second try to give New Zealand a thrilling 31-26 final triumph over South Africa Saturday in the third leg of the IRB Sevens World Series in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Roared on by a near-30,000 crowd at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the hosts were clinging to a two-point advantage when a loose ball was booted into their half. There was nobody at home for the “BlitzBoks,” leaving Toby Arnold to gather the ball and stroll to the tryline before passing it for veteran Cama to dot down as the clock struck full-time. New Zealand led three times during a high-tempo first half in an electric atmosphere and turned 17-14 ahead only to concede a couple of early second-half tries. Steven Hunt and reigning IRB Sevens Player of the Year Cecil Afrika dotted down and South Africa were in front 26-17 midway through the second half of the 20-minute climax to the two-day tournament. However, the men in black were desperate for success after a poor start to the nine-leg season and finished stronger with Frank Hali and Cama breaching the home defense for converted tries.
FIELD HOCKEY
Australia take Champions
Australia defeated Spain 1-0 yesterday to win a record fourth straight field hockey Champions Trophy and their 12th title overall. A disputed second-half goal to Eddie Ockenden was enough to maintain the Kookaburras’ stranglehold on the trophy, the last major men’s field hockey tournament before the London Olympics. Spain argued the goal came from a dangerous Liam De Young pass and should have been disallowed, but umpire Kim Hong-lae waved aside the protest to give Australia the lead. The score remained 0-0 at halftime, both teams probing for weakness, but unwilling to commit men forward with the trophy on the line. Australia finally broke the deadlock late in the second half, with Ockenden emerging from a goalmouth scramble to latch onto De Young’s high pass.
GOLF
Bradley, Steele take lead
US PGA champion Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele shot a 10-under 62 in better-ball play to take a one-stroke lead over Mark Calcavecchia and Nick Price in the Franklin Templeton Shootout in Naples, Florida, on Saturday. Bradley and Steele had a 19-under 125 total at Tiburon Golf Club. “Our goal was to have two people in on every hole and not make stupid, aggressive plays, and just play the way we normally play, and we did,” Bradley said. Calcavecchia and Price, trying to become the first Champions Tour duo to win the 12-team event, had a 63.
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