SOCCER
PM bets his cognac on win
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov was so convinced the buoyant co-hosts would beat France in their Euro 2012 Group D match in Donetsk yesterday that he was betting his best-quality cognac on it. After a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Sweden at a rocking Olympic Stadium on Monday, Azarov said he was sure Ukraine would win, even though they have never beaten France, who are on a 22-match unbeaten run. However, with spearhead Andriy Shevchenko on song after his brace in the capital and France going into the game on the back of scoring just once from 19 shots against England, the outcome was far from certain.
SOCCER
Boca grab advantage in semi
Six-time champions Boca Juniors defeated Universidad de Chile 2-0 in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semi-final on Thursday. Striker Santiago Silva opened the scoring in the 15th minute and Juan Sanchez Mino added to the lead in the 55th to give Boca Juniors the win at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires. Boca Juniors can advance to the final of Latin America’s most important club competition with a draw or even a 1-0 loss next week in Santiago, Chile. Universidad are trying to become the first Chilean team to reach the final since 1991. Defending champions Santos lost 1-0 at home to Brazilian rivals Corinthians on Wednesday in the first leg of the other semi-final.
ATHLETICS
Sprinter charged with rape
A female Indian athlete has been charged with raping her live-in partner. Pinki Pramanik, who won a 4x400m relay gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games, was arrested late on Thursday and taken to Baguiati police station in the northwest of Kolkata. Police said her partner had accused her of repeated rape and of being male, and that Pramanik had refused to take a medical examination at a government hospital. “I have undergone numerous tests in my career as an athlete,” Pramanik was quoted as saying in yesterday’s Times of India. “Why should I agree to more ridiculous tests?” Prabir Roy, the duty officer at the Baguiati police station, said that Pramanik was remanded in custody on rape charges and would appear in court later yesterday. “She was arrested and taken to a government-run hospital, but she refused to sit for a medical test,” Roy said.
CYCLING
Sagan wins another stage
Slovak Peter Sagan of the Liquigas team continued to dominate the Tour de Suisse by claiming his fourth stage win on Thursday’s stage six. Sagan crossed ahead of Britain’s Ben Swift of Sky, with Australian Allan Davis of GreenEdge third after the 198.5km run between Wittnau and Bischofszell. Portugal’s Rui Costa of Movistar holds the overall race leader’s yellow jersey with an eight-second advantage on Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck. Sagan, who won five stages at the Tour of California last month, has six stage wins in the race in two years.
GOLF
Kim grabs share of lead
US-based South Korea golfer Kim Sih-wan, who is playing his first season on the European Tour, carved out a share of the lead in the first round of the Saint-Omer Open on Thursday. Kim shares a one-shot lead alongside Englishmen Adam Gee and Simon Wakefield after a four-under 67. The 23-year-old carded five birdies against one bogey. Kim, Gee and Wakefield are one shot clear of Spaniard Raul Quiros, South African Darren Fichardt and Scot Raymond Russell.
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