SOCCER
Mechelen put four past Mons
Taiwan international Xavier Chen’s KV Mechelen thrashed RAEC Mons 4-1 on Saturday to consolidate 10th position in the Belgian Jupiler League standings. Boubacar Dialiba Diabang opened the scoring for Mechelen in the 22nd minute. The hosts doubled their lead from the penalty spot against 10 men after Mons goalkeeper Olivier Werner was sent off, with Julien Gorius scoring in the 57th minute. Mons pulled one back after 65 minutes through Nicolas Timmermans, but Jaime Alfonso Ruiz made it three for Mechelen after 71 minutes and Dialiba Diabang scored his second 10 minutes from time to complete the rout. Chen played the full 90 minutes.
SOCCER
Catania-Roma match halted
A waterlogged pitch in Sicily forced Saturday’s Serie A match between Catania and AS Roma to be abandoned after 65 minutes with the score at 1-1. Nicola Legrottaglie headed the home side ahead after 24 minutes, with Daniele De Rossi nodding in Francesco Totti’s corner for Roma’s equalizer four minutes later. However, the rain, which fell heavily ahead of the kick-off, continued to pour at Stadio Angelo Massimino and the game was abandoned by referee Paolo Tagliavento after he demonstrated the ball would not bounce on the rain-soaked surface. Seventh-placed Roma and Catania, who are one place and five points behind their opponents, will meet again at a date yet to be determined.
CYCLING
Guo takes sprint gold
China’s Guo Shuang took gold in the women’s sprint on Saturday at the track cycling World Cup in Beijing, putting behind her the bad memories from last year when injury forced her out of the competition. The 25-year-old, a bronze-medalist at the Beijing Olympics, had already won gold in the women’s team sprint on Saturday and she dominated from the start of the event, beating Simona Krupeckaite from Lithuania in the final.
SKIING
Maze’s underwear approved
Slovenian skier Tina Maze has been given the go-ahead to wear her controversial long underwear again. The Swiss team lodged a protest after Maze finished second in a Super-G in Bad Kleinkircheim, Austria, earlier this month, saying the plastic level in Maze’s garments exceeded FIS rules, giving her an aerodynamic edge. The FIS issued a statement on Saturday saying “the air permeability rules were fulfilled” during a test of the one-piece undergarment “and consequently there will be no modification to the results of the competition.”
SOCCER
Cahill set to join Chelsea
England defender Gary Cahill is on the verge of becoming a Chelsea player after passing a medical, the English Premier League club’s manager Andre Villas-Boas said on Saturday. After days of negotiations over the Bolton Wanderers centerback’s terms, the deal now looks a formality after the medical at the London club’s training ground earlier on Saturday. “Gary passed his medical and should be our player soon,” Villas-Boas was quoted as saying by the BBC. The 26-year-old, who has seven caps and will cost Chelsea about £7 million (US$10.7 million), according to British media reports, will link up at Chelsea with England skipper John Terry and looks set to replace Alex. Cahill joined Bolton from Aston Villa in 2008 with his career apparently going backward, but he has developed into an outstanding defender even though Owen Coyle’s side have struggled all season.
CRICKET
South Africa beats Sri Lanka
Half-centuries from Hashim Amla and J.P. Duminy helped South Africa secure a five-wicket win in the second one-day international against Sri Lanka in East London, South Africa, on Saturday. Opening batsman Amla weighed in with 55 off 58 balls, while Duminy was not out on 66 off 87 deliveries. South Africa, chasing Sri Lanka’s 236 for six, reached 237 for five with eight balls remaining. Amla and Graeme Smith (28) provided the hosts with an impressive start thanks to an opening stand of 76 before Duminy controlled the middle-order as the hosts took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Amla looked in complete control during his innings, which included five fours and two sixes. Duminy was content to simply work the ball around and struck just one six. Sri Lanka owed their final total to Dinesh Chandimal, who ended not out on 92, and left-handed opening batsman Upul Tharanga. He made 66 off 85 deliveries with six fours and a six. Chandimal, together with Nuwan Kulasekara (22) and Angelo Mathews (28), provided the innings with some late impetus.
BOXING
Stieglitz retains title
Robert Stieglitz retained his WBO super-middleweight title with a unanimous decision over German countryman Henry Weber in Offenburg, Germany, on Saturday. Stieglitz dominated the 12 rounds, but was forced to go the distance against the challenger. Weber stood his ground, but took too much punishment to threaten the champion. The three judges ruled the fight 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109. Stieglitz improved to 41-2, while Weber dropped to 15-1, with one draw.
SAILING
Abu Dhabi clinch victory
Resurgent Abu Dhabi clinched their second home victory in two days when they came from behind to win a 106-nautical mile (196km) sprint in the Volvo Ocean Race on Saturday. The United Arab Emirates team, under pressure after retiring from the first offshore leg and limping home in fifth in the second, breathed new life into their campaign by winning their home in-port race on Friday and followed that up 24 hours later with a blistering success in the race to Sharjah. Abu Dhabi, skippered by twice British Olympic silver medalist Ian Walker, had England cricketers Graeme Swann and Alastair Cook on board as guest spectators for the first section of the race in Abu Dhabi. Key to victory was their speed over the closing stages, as they stormed home doing more than 20 knots to win in six hours, 29 minutes, 45 seconds.
TENNIS
Mayer withdraws
Germany’s Florian Mayer has withdrawn from the Australian Open in Melbourne after suffering a hip strain. The 20th seed was scheduled to play Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun in the first round today at Melbourne Park. Mayer would be replaced in the draw by lucky loser Rik de Voest of South Africa, organizers said yesterday.
SKIING
Brandsdal wins sprint
Norway’s Erik Brandsdal and Ida Ingemarsdotter of Sweden won the World Cup nordic skiing sprint events in Milan, Italy, on Saturday. Brandsdal, 25, beat Germany’s Josef Wenzl and Teodor Peterson of Sweden to claim his second career win, while favorite Alexei Petukhov of Russia could only manage fifth. In the women’s race, Ingemarsdotter claimed a maiden World Cup win, finishing ahead of US favorite Kikkan Randall and Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway.
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