SQUASH
David, Shabana win titles
Nicol David retained her World Series Squash Finals title on Sunday by defeating England’s Laura Massaro, the player she had also beaten to clinch a seventh World Open last month. The Malaysian star won 11-3, 11-2, 11-9 having trailed 6-8 in the third game. “It means a lot to start 2013 with a good win. Knowing she was in front of her home fans I knew I had to start strongly and not let her feed off the crowd,” David said after the final at London’s Queen’s Club. In the men’s final, Egypt’s Amr Shabana beat England’s Nick Matthew 4-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-6.
GOLF
PGA opener halted again
Mother Nature again turned nasty at the PGA Tour’s season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Sunday, forcing play to be abandoned for a third consecutive day due to strong gusting winds. A little more than an hour of the already long-delayed first round was possible before officials halted the action at the Kapalua Resort, scrapping the scores and aiming to finish a 54-hole event today. Thirty-six holes were planned for yesterday with a two-tee start for the 30-man, winners-only field, followed by 18 holes today.
SOCCER
Boateng was wrong: Blatter
FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes AC Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng was wrong to walk off the pitch when he was targeted by racists. Boateng was subjected to racist taunts during a friendly in Italy on Thursday and responded by kicking the ball at fans and then storming off the pitch followed by his teammates. However, Blatter said it was the wrong decision. “Walk off? No. I don’t think that is the solution,” the FIFA chief told Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper on Sunday. “I don’t think you can run away. This issue is a very touchy subject, but I repeat there is zero tolerance of racism in the stadium; we have to go against that. The only solution is to be very harsh with the sanctions — and the sanctions must be a deduction of points or something similar.”
CRICKET
Proteas call up new faces
South Africa rested Jacques Kallis and called up four uncapped players on Sunday for the one-day series against New Zealand at the end of the month. The Proteas also brought Ryan McLaren into their Test squad as cover for Vernon Philander, who again tweaked a troublesome hamstring in the series-opener and is doubtful for the second Test against the Black Caps. The 37-year-old Kallis spoke during the first Test of his desire to manage his ODI appearances in order to make the 2015 World Cup. Selectors responded by giving him the three-game ODI series off. Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, spinner Aaron Phangiso, batsman Farhaan Behardien and seam bowler Rory Kleinveldt were included in a 14-man squad for the three-game limited overs series, which begins in Paarl on Jan. 19. All four have played Twenty20 cricket for South Africa, while Kleinveldt made his Test debut late last year. Lonwabo Tsotsobe returned to the squad after missing the T20s due to injury.
TENNIS
Tipsarevic claims title
Janko Tipsarevic staved off Roberto Bautista-Agut’s challenge to win the Chennai Open on Sunday. The Serb lost the first set, but found his rhythm to beat the unseeded Spaniard 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. It was Tipsarevic’s fourth career ATP World Tour title. “I think there’s just one word to say and it’s ‘finally,’” he said after winning his first title in Chennai at his sixth attempt.
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