GOLF
Danny Willett takes lead
Danny Willett carded a three-under par-69 to reach 12-under par and a one-shot lead after three rounds of the BMW International Open in Cologne, Germany, on Saturday as the Englishman targets a first tour win. The 24-year-old leads compatriot Chris Wood and halfway leader Joel Sjoholm of Sweden, with South African Keith Horne and Australian Marcus Fraser on 10-under. Former Walker Cup player Willett, who has 19 top-10 finishes, carded six birdies with three bogeys.
BOXING
Josesito Lopez upsets Ortiz
Unheralded Josesito Lopez stopped welterweight star Victor Ortiz on Saturday night, apparently breaking Ortiz’s jaw in the ninth round to earn a stunning upset victory. Ortiz and his corner stopped the fight before the 10th-round bell when the injury left Ortiz unable to close his mouth. Lopez (30-4, 18 KOs) leaped onto the ropes to celebrate one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing history. Lopez accepted the fight last month as a late replacement for Andre Berto, who failed a doping test that scuttled his rematch with Ortiz. Ortiz (29-4-2) was narrowly leading on all three judges’ scorecards when he quit. Lopez had made the fight much closer than expected. Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse also stopped Mexico’s Humberto Soto after five rounds on the undercard at Staples Center.
TENNIS
Ferrer grabs fourth title
Spain’s David Ferrer secured his fourth title of the year with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Germany’s Philipp Petzschner at the UNICEF Open grasscourt tournament in ‘S-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, on Saturday. Victory improved the Spaniard’s record to 15-15 in finals and earned him his second title at the event, having also triumphed at the same venue in 2008. On the women’s side, Russia’s Nadia Petrova downed Poland’s Urszula Radwanska, the younger sister of world No. 3 Agnieszka, 6-4, 6-3 to claim her 11th WTA title.
RALLYING
Loeb wins in New Zealand
Frenchman Sebastien Loeb won the Rally New Zealand yesterday to extend his lead at the top of the World Rally Championship to 38 points. The eight-time defending world champion finished 29.6 seconds ahead of Citroen teammate Mikko Hirvonen to secure his third Rally New Zealand title after winning in 2005 and 2008. It was Loeb’s fifth win in seven rounds of this year’s championship and the 72nd of a stellar career in which he has monopolized the world title for the past eight years in a row. Loeb entered the final day with a 6.4 second lead over Hirvonen and the Citroen drivers were under orders to take no risks in the wet conditions to ensure a one-two finish for the French car manufacturer. Norway’s Petter Solberg came third in the fastest of the Fords.
ATHLETICS
Chambers wins, but no cigar
Dwain Chambers ran his fastest time of the year in Birmingham, England, to win the 100m final at the British Olympic trials on Saturday, but that still was not enough to get him a spot on the team. The 34-year-old, banned in 2003 after failing a drugs test, recently saw his path to selection for a Games in his native London cleared after the British Olympic Association’s lifetime Olympic ban on drugs cheats was overturned. However, Chambers’s time of 10.25 seconds was not good enough to reach the “A” qualifying standard of 10.18 seconds.
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