BASEBALL
Young sorry for incident
Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young apologized on Friday for an incident that led to a hate crime charge against him for allegedly yelling anti-Semitic remarks during a scuffle with tourists in New York. Police say Young, 26, scuffled with four tourists from Illinois outside a hotel near Times Square early on Friday after the group gave money to a panhandler wearing a yarmulke. The baseball player is accused of yelling anti-Semitic remarks during the incident, but it was unclear at whom the remarks were directed, police said. Young has been charged with aggravated harassment, which is considered a hate crime, authorities said. “I sincerely regret what happened last night,” Young said in a written statement. He also apologized to everyone he “affected,” which included the Detroit Tigers, the family of team owner Mike Ilitch and the team’s fans. “I take this matter very seriously and assure everyone that I will do everything I can to improve myself as a person and player,” he said. The team said in a statement it was aware of the allegation against Young, but had no comment.
TENNIS
Bertens beats Simona Halep
Qualifier Kiki Bertens beat two-time runner-up Simona Halep 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to set up a Grand Prix SAR final in Fez, Morocco, against Laura Pous-Tio, where both players will try to win their first WTA title. The 20-year-old Dutch player saved all six break points she faced in the first set and broke Halep three times overall to stop the Romanian from reaching her third consecutive final in Fez. Earlier, Laura Pous-Tio beat Mathilde Johansson of France 6-1, 2-6, 7-5. In a topsy-turvy match, the 27-year-old Spaniard dropped her own serve five times, but broke Johansson seven times to reach her first final of the season.
CYCLING
Landis probed over fund
Bicyclist Floyd Landis, stripped of his 2006 Tour de France win after testing positive for testosterone, is the subject of a federal investigation into a US$450,000 defense fund he created and later abandoned, a legal source said on Friday. A letter sent to Landis, 36, informing him of a grand jury probe indicated he was being investigated for mail and wire fraud linked to the Floyd Fairness Fund, said the source, who has seen the letter. The fund, created in 2007, raised money to defend Landis from the allegations of using performance-enhancing drugs after the International Cycling Association stripped him of his title. After a three-year battle, Landis did an about-face and admitted to doping, implicating teammates, including bicycling legend Lance Armstrong, charges that Armstrong denies. In 2010, he promised to refund the approximately US$450,000 the Floyd Fairness Fund collected from individuals and supporters, but no refunds have been made, the source said.
TENNIS
Petkovic drops French Open
World No. 12 Andrea Petkovic will miss next month’s French Open and the Wimbledon championships in June after tearing ligaments in her ankle, the German said on Friday. Petkovic, who only returned to the tour at this week’s Stuttgart Grand Prix following more than three months out with a stress fracture of her back, is also doubtful for the London Olympics in July. The 24-year-old turned her ankle while attempting a forehand in her second-round defeat by No. 1 Victoria Azarenka on Thursday.
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