SOCCER
Owen too old: Perth Glory
Australian A-League club Perth Glory yesterday ruled out signing former England international Michael Owen because they want someone younger. Owen, 33, who scored 40 goals in 89 internationals for England and had stints with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United, is currently playing for Stoke City in the English Premier League. Glory coach Ian Ferguson said Owen’s representatives contacted the club, but the discussions did not go far. “Michael is a player who comes with a high pedigree, but it’s not the direction I want to take the club,” Ferguson said on the team’s Web site. “I am looking for a younger player and a player who has been playing more regularly. I have three or four irons in the fire that I am pursuing, which is good. In terms of Michael, there was contact from an agent if we were interested. It was discussed at a good level but I have made the decision he is not the player needed at Perth Glory.”
FOOTBALL
Clemons out for postseason
Seattle will have to continue their NFL postseason campaign without top pass rusher Chris Clemons, who tore a knee ligament in the Seahawks’ first-round win over the Washington Redskins. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll confirmed on Monday that the defensive end tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee a day earlier in Washington. “He will have to have surgery,” Carroll said. “So we’ll miss him, which is a big loss for us in a lot of ways. Chris has been a great football player. He’s been just a symbol of consistency for the years we’ve had him. He’s been a great leader for us, too, and just a tough dude.” Clemons, 31, recorded a team-best 11.5 sacks this season and his absence will be felt when the Seahawks travel to Atlanta to face the National Conference top seeds Atlanta on Sunday in the second round of the playoffs.
GOLF
Donald to star in Open
World No. 2 Luke Donald will star for the first time in this year’s US$2.75 million Maybank Malaysian Open golf tournament, organizers said yesterday. The 35-year-old former world No. 1 is determined to regain the top title this year from Rory Mcllroy. Mcllroy was one of his teammates in Europe’s thrilling success at the 2012 Ryder Cup. Donald, who won the Money Lists on both sides of the Atlantic in 2011, has accrued seven European Tour titles, including back-to-back success in the tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship. The Englishman was also part of the Ryder Cup European Team on four occasions, the last being last year.
SOCCER
Rayo crush Getafe 3-1
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid stayed in the hunt for a European qualification place when club captain Piti struck twice in a 3-1 win at home to Madrid rivals Getafe on Monday. The victory at a chilly Estadio de Vallecas lifted Rayo above Valencia and Real Sociedad into seventh and they are two points behind sixth-placed Levante, who occupy the second of Spain’s two Europa League berths. Lass Bangoura fired Rayo ahead in the 14th minute when he played the ball into space and nipped between two defenders before crashing an angled shot into the roof of the net. Piti made it 2-0 14 minutes later with a fine left-foot volley across Getafe goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya and found the net again seven minutes into the second half when he slammed home a Leo Baptistao center.
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