RUGBY UNION
England want Twickers
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) have rejected a proposal from their Welsh counterparts that the 2015 Rugby World Cup match between England and Wales be played in Cardiff. Hosts England were drawn in the same group as Wales in Monday’s draw, prompting the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to suggest the encounter between the sides should take place at the Millennium Stadium in the Welsh capital. England’s bid to host the event listed the stadium as a potential venue for up to eight matches, but RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie said that England would prefer to tackle Wales on home ground. “We have a very nice home of our own and I would hope very much we would contemplate playing the match here,” he said on Tuesday, before proceeding tongue-in-cheek. “With our modest little stadium here at Twickenham, with the further investment we might be able to make it into a decent spot to play rugby. We equally believe we are very good hosts here and that we could hold a decent game here, and would very much want to do that. Shock, horror and astonishment that I would suggest that!” Ritchie is overseeing a £76 million (US$122.4 million) upgrade of Twickenham, the home of English rugby.
RUGBY UNION
Toulouse star gets fine
Former Tongan and Toulouse star Finau Maka was on Tuesday given a hefty fine in France for paying an illegal Tunisian immigrant a pittance for years of housework and confiscating his passport. An appeals court in Toulouse overturned an earlier judgement that had acquitted Maka and handed him a 2,000 euro (US$2,600) fine and 5,000 euros in damages for taking advantage of Moncef Derbali and illegally employing him. Maka, who starred for Tonga at the 2007 World Cup and again last year when the Tongans claimed a famous win in the pool stage over France, was accused by Derbali of making him work on the black for four years in his villa near Toulouse and to have paid him just 1,260 euros. Maka sent the money to Derbali’s mother in Tunisia. The state prosecutor in his summing up said Derbali was reduced to a submissive state because of his “vulnerability and his dependency” (on Maka), and lived in a “lodging not compatible with human dignity.”
SOCCER
Ethiopia want security
Ethiopia’s soccer federation will not allow its team to travel to neighboring Eritrea for a qualifying game in the African Nations Championship because of simmering hostilities between the countries and a lack of security guarantees. Federation spokesman Melaku Ayele says Ethiopia is happy to host the Eritreans for the second leg of their tie next month, but wants a neutral venue — preferably Sudan — for this month’s first leg, scheduled for Eritrea’s capital, Asmara. Melaku told reporters yesterday: “Who can give you a security guarantee in Asmara? Nobody can give you a security guarantee ... even you foreign journalists don’t get that. That’s the reality.”
BASEBALL
Marlins trade Escobar
The Miami Marlins continued an off-season of cost-cutting by trading away recently acquired shortstop Yunel Escobar to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. Escobar was signed last month in a 12-player deal that sent Miami players Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson to Toronto. However, the six-year player with a .282 career batting average has now been quickly shipped to the Rays in exchange for a minor leaguer.
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