BOXING
Stieglitz TKOs Abraham
Robert Stieglitz reclaimed his WBO super middleweight title from fellow German Arthur Abraham on a technical knockout after three rounds on Saturday. “It was a fairly short process,” Stieglitz said. “I thought he’d last longer. I worked hard on my right and it paid off.” Roared on by the crowd in his adopted hometown of Magdeburg, the Russian-born Stieglitz took the fight to the defending champion, opening a cut above Abraham’s left eye in the second round and leaving it swollen shut by the end of the third. Referee Mike Ortega stepped in to end the bout before the fourth after consulting with the ring doctor. Stieglitz improved to 44-3 with 25 knockouts after claiming back the belt he lost to Abraham by unanimous decision in Berlin in August last year. “If he won, he won. Now the third fight is the decisive fight,” said Abraham, who dropped to 36-4 (28 KOs). Stieglitz also indicated the likelihood of another bout between the two. “I’m always happy to fight Arthur Abraham,” Stieglitz said. “I hope the managers reach agreement. I’m ready.”
CYCLING
Porte takes lead
Australian rider Richie Porte won the individual time trial to take the overall lead in the Criterium International on Saturday. Two weeks after winning Paris-Nice for his biggest career victory, Porte was in a good position to win another race heading into yesterday’s third and final stage. Porte won the 7km time trial around Porto-Vecchio in just over 9 minutes — one second faster than Italian rider Manuele Boaro and American Tejay van Garderen, who were also second and third in the standings. Tour de France runner-up Chris Froome was one more second behind in fourth place overall. Yesterday’s final stage is a 176km ride featuring six climbs and finishing with a grueling ascent up Col de l’Ospedale above Porto-Vecchio in Corsica — where the Tour starts on June 29.
CYCLING
Gerrans wins sixth stage
Australian Simon Gerrans won the sixth stage of the Tour of Catalonia on Saturday as Ireland’s Daniel Martin retained his lead at the top of the overall standings. Gerrans, who rides for Orica-GreenEDGE, prevailed in a sprint finish to the penultimate day’s 178.7km run from Almacelles to Valls, beating Belgian Gianni Meersman, already a double-stage winner of the race, and Daniele Ratto of Italy. Race leader Martin extended his advantage over Joaquim Rodriguez by three seconds to 17seconds, with a 45 second gap back to Nairo Quintana.
SOCCER
Costa Rica outraged at loss
Costa Ricans reacted with outrage on Saturday following their country’s World Cup qualifying defeat to the US, angrily claiming the snow-hit match should have been called off. Amid farcical scenes in Denver on Friday, Costa Rica slumped to a 1-0 defeat to their CONCACAF rivals in a match that saw both sides labor through a blizzard on a pitch blanketed in thick snow. Salvadoran referee Joel Aguilar briefly halted the game in the 55th minute, before allowing the match to conclude. However, Costa Rica’s press slammed the decision on Saturday. “Outrageous! We were forced to play in caveman conditions,” the Al Dia newspaper wailed on its front page. “It was the only way they could beat us — the USA froze us in Denver. Why was the game allowed to go ahead?” the paper added. La Nacion newspaper agreed. “Snow was the United States’ best weapon. Costa Rica were frozen out by the poor condition of the pitch,” it said.
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