TENNIS
Capriati faces assault charge
Former tennis world No. 1 Jennifer Capriati is facing battery charges and possible arrest after being accused of stalking and punching an ex-boyfriend on Valentine’s Day. Capriati, a three-time Grand Slam champion who won 14 titles and earned gold at the 1992 Olympics, had an altercation with Ivan Brannan at the Oxygen Health & Wellness gym in North Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 14, the local police department said. While Brannan was working out, Capriati, 36, “started screaming” at him, before punching him, a police report said. A yoga instructor then stopped the former tennis pro from continuing to punch Brannan and the 28-year-old locked himself in the men’s locker room and called 911. Brannan, a former Florida State University golfer, had red marks on his chest from the incident, the police report said. While filling out an affidavit, “his hands were physically shaking,” it added. “It was very apparent that he was in fear of physical harm.” Brannan, who dated Capriati from May 2011 to February last year, told police that Capriati began harassing and stalking him shortly after the couple broke up. He also later brought officers documentation of seven other altercations with the former tennis pro. The North Palm Beach Police Department requested an arrest warrant for Capriati, though it has not yet been issued by the court.
BOXING
Police to question Singh
Police in India’s Punjab State reportedly plan to question Olympic boxing bronze medalist Vijender Singh as part of an investigation into a drug haul of more than US$25 million from an international network. Top police official Hardyal Singh Mann was widely quoted in the Indian media yesterday as saying one of two men arrested with 26kg of heroin told police that two boxers, sparring partners Vijender Singh and Ram Singh, were his clients. Ram Singh was expelled from India’s National Institute of Sports in the northern city of Patiala over the weekend after he admitted that he had used drugs, the Press Trust of India reported. He has not been charged. Vijender Singh has denied that he ever used drugs or that he had any links with the international drug ring.
BOXING
Uchiyama, Kono to defend
WBA super featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama and super flyweight champion Kohei Kono will defend their titles in May, their gym said yesterday. The two bouts will take place in Tokyo on May 6. It will be Uchiyama’s seventh defense of the title he wrested from Juan Carlos Salgado of Mexico in January 2010. Uchiyama, unbeaten at 19 wins, including 16 KOs and one draw, will take on 10th-ranked Jaider Parra of Venezuela. Kono will fight interim champion Liborio Solis of Venezuela, ranked top in the WBA.
SKIING
Chapuis wins ski cross title
Jean Frederic Chapuis surprisingly won the men’s ski cross title at the freestyle world championships in Norway on Sunday, beating fellow Frenchman Bastien Midol in the final for his first major victory. John Teller of the US took bronze, while the fourth finalist, Jouni Pellinen of Finland, fell and failed to finish. Chapuis has never won a World Cup event, with a third-place finish in Germany last year his best finish. In the women’s race, 20-year-old Fanny Smith of Switzerland beat reigning World Cup champion Marielle Thompson of Canada, with Ophelie David of France taking bronze. Smith needed a strong comeback in the semi-finals, when she was in last position, but managed to finish second to reach the final.
SPAIN
Ronaldo scores brace
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win at RC Celta de Vigo on Sunday, lifting Jose Mourinho’s side provisionally into second place in La Liga. Except for Celta’s initial and last-gasp surges, Madrid had the better of the scoring chances at the Balaidos, despite Mourinho making several changes to his starting team. Ronaldo was well-positioned to score from a loose ball in the 61st minute. Striker Iago Aspas leveled against the run of play two minutes later, but the Portugal forward converted a spot-kick earned by Kaka in the 72nd. Ronaldo has 26 league goals this season, second only to Barcelona forward Lionel Messi with 40. Madrid trail Barcelona by 13 points. In other games on Sunday, Athletic Bilbao beat Valencia 1-0, while Levante UD and Getafe played to a goalless draw. Atletico Madrid lost 0-1 at Real Sociedad.
FRANCE
Lyon, Marseille lose ground
Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille failed to make up ground on French league leaders Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) when they played out a tame goalless draw on Sunday. A point apiece leaves Lyon four adrift of PSG, while Marseille, in third place, are three points further back. Earlier, OGC Nice continued their bid for an unprecedented place in the Champions League, as a first-half brace from Stephane Bahoken carried them to a 2-0 victory over Montpellier Herault and into joint fourth with AS Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1. Nice, who won the last of their four French titles back in 1959, trail Saint-Etienne on goal-difference, but are just two points behind Marseille in the race for the third and final qualifying slot for Europe’s most prestigious competition. In the day’s other game, Europa League hopefuls Girondins de Bordeaux beat SC Bastia 1-0.
GERMANY
Bayern steam toward title
Bayern Munich finished the weekend 20 points clear in the Bundesliga and are now just three league wins from the title, while Eintracht Frankfurt stayed in the chasing pack after Sunday’s draw at Hannover 96. If they win their next three matches, Bayern are set to be crowned German champions on April 6 at Frankfurt, who were held to a goalless draw at wintry Hannover in heavy snow. Frankfurt drop to fifth following a fifth consecutive league match without scoring. In a scrappy game, Hannover’s ex-Manchester United striker Mame Diouf and Ivory Coast forward Didier Ya Konan both had chances up front for the team, who stay 10th. Hamburg SV moved up among the European places after they claimed sixth with a 1-0 win at VfB Stuttgart. Latvia’s Artjoms Rudnevs hit the 50th-minute winner for his 11th goal of the season.
ITALY
Juventus get scrappy win
Substitute Emanuele Giaccherini struck in injury-time to snatch a 1-0 win for an uninspired Juventus at home to Catania on Sunday, to increase their Serie A lead to nine points. Giaccherini had only been on the field 15 minutes, during which time he had been booked for diving, when he shot home from the center of the box following a storming run by Paul Pogba down the right. That last-gasp goal completed a joyful day for the reigning champions, because their nearest challengers, SSC Napoli, crashed to a 2-0 defeat at struggling AC Chievo Verona. Other results on Sunday: Atalanta BC 2, Delfino Pescara 1936 1; Cagliari 3, UC Sampdoria 1; US Citta de Palermo 1, AC Siena 2; Parma 4, Torino 1; Inter 0, Bologna 1; SS Lazio 0, ACF Fiorentina 2.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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