RUSSIA
Ovechkin, Kirilenko engaged
NHL star Alex Ovechkin used Twitter to trumpet his engagement to tennis star Maria Kirilenko on Monday, posting a picture of the Russian sports power couple. “We are engaged!!!!!!” tweeted 27-year-old Ovechkin, a star for the NHL’s Washington Capitals who is playing in his home country during the lockout that has idled the North American league. The accompanying photograph showed the pair, both wearing skates, posing arm in arm on a patch of outdoor ice. Kirilenko, who will turn 26 this month, is a five-time winner on the WTA Tour who has been ranked as high as 12th in the world. The two have been dating since late last year, and Ovechkin was on hand in July at the All England Club, when Kirilenko reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.
SOCCER
Carrico to join Reading
Reading have agreed a deal to sign Sporting Lisbon captain Daniel Carrico, the English Premier League club said on Monday. The 24-year-old Portuguese has agreed an initial contract to 2015, according to Reading’s Web site. Carrico, a former Portugal Under-21 international, is a defender who has also operated as a defensive midfielder. Reading are second from bottom in the Premier League, five points from safety.
soccer
Cudicini to move to Galaxy
Los Angeles Galaxy have agreed to sign Italian goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini from Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer, the Major League Soccer club said on Monday. Cudicini, the 39-year-old former Chelsea player, has spent nearly four years at Spurs, but has appeared in just one game so far this English season, in the League Cup. Cudicini, who began his career at AC Milan in 1992, joined Chelsea in 1999, initially on loan, and was part of their Premier League--winning squads of 2005 and 2006. After signing for Spurs, he suffered a motorcycle accident in 2009, fracturing his wrists and injuring his pelvis. Although he recovered fitness, the club’s acquisition of Frenchman Hugo Lloris this year pushed Cudicini down to third-choice at White Hart Lane behind Lloris and the American Brad Friedel.
BASEBALL
Former MVP Tejada returns
Former AL Most Valuable Player Miguel Tejada says he has reached a deal with the Kansas City Royals and is ready to return to the majors. The 38-year-old infielder said that he has a one-year contract for US$1.1 million and another US$400,000 in performance bonuses. The six-time All-Star last played in the big leagues in 2011 with San Francisco, hitting .239 with four home runs and 26 RBIs in 91 games. Tejada played 36 games in Triple-A for Baltimore last season, batting .259 with no homers and 18 RBIs, and was released in late June. Tejada has been playing for the Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Republic Winter League. He says he lost 6.8kg during the summer. Tejada spent 15 seasons in the majors and was the 2002 AL MVP with Oakland.
SOCCER
PSG deny interest in Cole
Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo on Monday said the club had no interest in signing Inter’s Dutch wideman Wesley Sneijder or Chelsea defender Ashley Cole. “We have never spoken with Ashley Cole, there has never been any contact. [PSG coach] Carlo [Ancelotti] was his coach at Chelsea, that’s why that story is doing the rounds,” Leonardo said. “Sincerely, we have never contacted Wesley Sneijder to come to PSG — we have five players in his position already.”
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