CRICKET
Maynard dies on tracks
Surrey’s Tom Maynard, one of England’s most promising batsmen, has died at the age of 23, the county said on Monday. Maynard, the son of former Glamorgan and England batsman Matthew Maynard, was killed after being struck by a London Underground train in the early hours of Monday morning. British Transport Police confirmed a 23-year-old man, named locally as Maynard, had died near Wimbledon Park station in southwest London. Mystery surrounded the end of Maynard’s life after London’s Metropolitan Police said he had run away when stopped while driving “erratically” on Arthur Road, near Wimbledon Park station, before being hit by the tube train. “At approximately 4:15am on Monday, 18 June, officers stopped a vehicle after it was seen being driven erratically in Arthur Road, SW19,” Scotland Yard said. “The male driver of the vehicle — a black Mercedes C250 — made off on foot. Officers were unable to locate the man. At approximately 5:10am the body of a man fitting the same description was found on tracks near Wimbledon Park station.” Tom Maynard also played for the England Lions, the national A team.
TENNIS
Baghdatis beats Andujar
Marcos Baghdatis beat eighth-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England, on Monday. The Cypriot led 3-0 and lost only four points in the final three games of the opening set in the grass-court Wimbledon warmup. He won the first four games of the second set and did not face a break point all match. Ryan Harrison of the US edged out Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil 3-6, 7-6, 7-6. In the women’s event, eighth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia downed Britain’s Anne Keothavong 6-2, 6-3, and Canada’s Alexandra Wozniak outlasted Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 4-6, 7-6. Tamira Paszek of Austria beat New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic 7-5, 6-1, and Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa defeated Germany’s Mona Barthel 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
TENNIS
Flipkens beats Stosur
US Open champion Sam Stosur lost in the opening round of the UNICEF Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands, on Monday, falling 7-6, 6-3 to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium. Flipkens served nine aces, while the top-seeded Stosur double-faulted seven times at the grass-court warmup for Wimbledon. On the men’s side, third-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria was set to play Igor Kunitsyn of Russia later on Monday. On Sunday, Kim Clijsters returned from a three-month hip injury to beat fifth-seeded Romina Oprandi of Switzerland 6-7, 6-2, 6-3.
SOCCER
Drogba set for Shanghai
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is set to sign for Shanghai Shenhua, joining Nicolas Anelka at the Chinese club, its chief investor said. The Ivory Coast international, 34, was set to announce the move on his personal Web site, Zhu Jun told Xinhua news agency, in a deal that will reportedly put Drogba on £200,000 (US$312,831) a week. French forward Anelka joined Shenhua in January, also from Chelsea. Zhu denied a report in Shanghai’s Xinmin Evening News that Drogba, who left Chelsea after helping the English Premier League club to their first Champions League triumph last month, would earn an annual salary of 12 million euros (US$15.12 million). Another Shanghai newspaper, the Oriental Morning Post, said on Monday that Shenhua have offered Drogba £200,000 a week.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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