ENGLAND
QPR sign Dunne on a free
Championship promotion favorites Queens Park Rangers bolstered their squad with the signing of former Aston Villa defender Richard Dunne on a free transfer on Monday. Dunne was released by Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert at the end of last season and the Republic of Ireland international has agreed to drop down a division after signing a one-year contract with QPR. The 33-year-old centerback is Harry Redknapp’s second summer signing following the capture of Newcastle United rightback Danny Simpson. Dunne, who has also played for Everton and Manchester City, will compete with Clint Hill, Anton Ferdinand and Nedum Onuoha for a starting place as Redknapp looks to steer the club back to the Premier League at the first attempt following last season’s relegation. “I’ve played in the Championship and won it with Manchester City, so hopefully my experience will benefit the team over the course of the season,” Dunne said. Dunne struggled with injuries during his final two years at Villa and Redknapp admitted there is a clause in the defender’s deal that means his contract can be canceled if he does not stay fit. “Obviously, he had his problems last season with the injury, but there’s an agreement in place that if he breaks down the contract can be ended,” Redknapp said.
ENGLAND
Hull sign ’keeper Harper
Premier League new boys Hull City signed former Newcastle United goalkeeper Steve Harper on a free transfer on Monday. Harper agreed a one-year contract with Steve Bruce’s team following his release by Newcastle at the end of last season. A statement on Hull’s official Twitter feed read: “We are delighted to announce the signing of Steve Harper on a one-year deal. Welcome to Hull.” The 38-year-old, who spent 20 years at St James’ Park, joins the Tigers for their first top-flight campaign since 2010 after their promotion as Championship runners-up last season. He played in Newcastle’s FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United in 1999 and made his last appearance for the club in a 1-0 Premier League defeat to Arsenal in May.
SPAIN
Campana to join Palace
Sevilla have agreed to sell their Spain under-20 midfielder Jose Campana to Premier League side Crystal Palace, the La Liga club’s president said on Monday. “We agreed that his agent could put him on the market, and an agreement was reached with Crystal Palace worth 2 million euros [US$2.6 million] plus bonuses and a percentage of any future transfer fee,” Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido told reporters. “The logical thing would be for him to sign today and tomorrow travel to the UK for a medical.” A product of Sevilla’s academy, the 20-year-old was a key figure in Spain’s run to the quarter-finals of this month’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Turkey.
SPAIN
Rafinha loaned to Celta
Barcelona reached an agreement on Monday to send midfielder Rafinha to RC Celta de Vigo for one season. The 20-year-old Brazilian has come through Barcelona’s youth ranks since he was 13. Rafinha holds dual nationality and has played for Spain at the under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels, but last year he switched to Brazil and played in their under-20 team at the South American Youth Championship in Argentina. Rafinha’s elder brother, midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who also came up through Barcelona’s youth ranks, moved to Bayern Munich on Sunday.
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