BASKETBALL
Portland star gets drug ban
Portland Trail Blazers guard Terrel Harris was suspended without pay for five games for a violation of the NBA’s anti-drug program, the league announced on Monday. Harris, who turns 26 on Saturday, will begin the ban with the first game of the upcoming 2013-2014 season, provided he is healthy and physically able to perform. The league did not announce what substance was involved in the violation of the anti-drug program agreed upon in conjunction with the players union. US medical privacy laws often prevent such disclosures. Harris has averaged 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 42 career regular-season NBA games with Miami and New Orleans.
GOLF
Prodigy set for tournament
Twelve-year-old Ye Wocheng of China is set to play at the European Masters next month. Tournament organizers say Ye has been accepted for the Sept. 5 to Sept. 8 event in the Swiss Alps, which is jointly sanctioned by the European and Asian tours. Ye became the youngest-ever player in a European Tour event after qualifying for the China Open in May. He missed the cut after shooting two rounds of 79. Ye’s record-setting appearance followed weeks after fellow Chinese golfer Guan Tianlang made history at The Masters by playing at the age of 14.
RUGBY UNION
Weepu says ‘I’ll be back’
Piri Weepu admitted yesterday his axing from the All Blacks came as a shock, but vowed to knuckle down and reclaim his New Zealand jersey. The 71-Test veteran was a surprise omission from coach Steve Hansen’s 28-man squad named on Sunday for the Rugby Championship, with his place taken by 21-year-old T.J. Perenara. Weepu, who will turn 30 next month, said he was disappointed, feeling he had played well with Super 15 outfit the Auckland Blues after facing criticism for a lack of fitness last season. “I feel like I probably played one of the best campaigns I’ve had in a long, long time,” he told the Dominion Post newspaper. “I’m pretty happy about that because I worked really hard in the off-season ... it is a bit disappointing I didn’t make the Championship,” Weepu said. “It’s just about working with the right people, having the right team around me. I have to have a plan in place to get to that goal,” he said. “I can only do so much. If I work my ass off and give myself a fighting chance... then hopefully that gives me a good shot.”
SOCCER
Slapper says sorry
Ecuadoran side Barcelona’s goalkeeper Maximo Banguera has publicly apologized for slapping an opponent in the face which left his victim needing hospital treatment following a fiery local derby at the weekend. Television pictures showed that immediately after Sunday’s match in Guayaquil, Banguera slapped Emelec captain and fellow Ecuador international Pedro Quinonez violently in the face. Emelec officials said that Quinonez was knocked to the ground by the force of the impact, suffered convulsions and nearly lost consciousness. He spent the night in hospital complaining of dizziness and was released on Monday. “I want to apologize sincerely to Pedro Quinonez, his family, the supporters, everyone,” Banguera told a news conference late on Monday. “I was a bad loser. I am aware if there is a sanction, I will have to face it.” The two players had also been involved in an angry exchange during the Shipyard
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