SOCCER
Ji Dong-won joins Augsburg
Sunderland’s South Korean international striker Ji Dong-won has joined German Bundesliga side Augsburg on a season-long loan, the Premier League club announced on Tuesday. “Sunderland striker Ji Dong-Won has completed a loan move to FC Augsburg. The South Korean international, who joined the Black Cats in the summer of 2011 from K-League side Chunnam Dragons, will remain with the German Bundesliga side until the end of the season,” a statement on the Sunderland Web site read. Ji made 21 appearances for Sunderland last season and scored two goals, including a famous late winner against eventual champions Manchester City in January last year, but he has failed to establish himself this season.
CRICKET
‘CMJ’ dies at age 67
Respected English cricket journalist and commentator Christopher Martin-Jenkins has died of cancer at the age of 67, his former colleagues announced on Tuesday. Popularly known as “CMJ” in Great Britain, Martin-Jenkins was one of the voices of Test Match Special on BBC Radio and previously worked for the Daily Telegraph and the Times. “Desperately sad to tell you that CMJ died peacefully this morning,” his friend and colleague Jonathan Agnew said on Twitter. Martin-Jenkins also served as the president of Marylebone Cricket Club in 2010 and 2011. Martin-Jenkins was diagnosed with terminal cancer in January last year and released his memoir, entitled CMJ: A Cricketing Life, the following April. Former England all-rounder and current broadcaster Ian Botham tweeted: “Very sad to hear of the death of the ‘Major’ ... Christopher Martin Jenkins. Our thoughts are with the family. A true Gentleman!!”
DARTS
Taylor claims world title
Britain’s Phil Taylor overcame a spirited Michael van Gerwen to claim his 16th world darts title at Alexandra Palace in London, England, on Tuesday. Taylor had to fight back from 2-0 and 4-2 down in the final against the young Dutchman before eventually running out a 7-4 victory. The 52-year-old Taylor, who had said after his semi-final victory over Raymond van Barneveld that he was feeling fatigued, appeared to get stronger the longer the match against the 23-year-old Van Gerwen went on. Taylor, who last won the title in 2010, said he was “chuffed” at the success, but was unsure as to how many more years he would remain in the top level of the game. “I really don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this,” Taylor said in a televised interview. “I’ll be 53 years old next year when coming back to defend this title.”
RUGBY UNION
O’Connell out with injury
Ireland lock Paul O’Connell is to miss the Six Nations championship after a back operation on Monday, but hopes to return in early April in time for the British and Irish Lions’ tour of Australia starting in June. O’Connell, who captained the Lions during their last tour in South Africa four years ago, has played only two games for his provincial side Munster this season and last started for Ireland during last year’s Six Nations. The 33-year-old lock underwent surgery on his back for the second time on Monday and said the operation had gone well. Tommy Bowe has also been ruled out of the Six Nations championship, which Ireland begin in Wales on Feb. 2, because of a knee injury. However, the Ulster wing should also return in April in time for possible inclusion in Lions’ coach Warren Gatland’s squad for Australia.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier