RUGBY LEAGUE
Streaker sent to jail
A man who disrupted the final match of the State of Origin rugby league series in Australia by running naked onto the field for a dare was jailed for three months on Thursday. New Zealander Wati Holmwood was sentenced for streaking in front of 83,000 stadium fans and a television audience of 4.2 million during the final moments of July’s Origin decider in Sydney. His lawyer argued for a non-custodial or suspended sentence, but magistrate Christopher Longley imposed a jail term for the flasher, who also streaked during a club rugby game in 2011. Holmwood, 33, pleaded guilty to entering a playing field without authorization and willful and obscene exposure in public, in breach of two good behavior bonds handed down for earlier offenses. In addition to the jail term, Holmwood, described as being of “limited” intelligence in court, was fined A$2,000 (US$1,800). His solicitor, Will Tuckey, said Holmwood would appeal. “This is a gentleman with complicated needs, he’s had a great deal of media attention,” Tuckey told the court. “It would be hard to find a person who was particularly offended on that night.”
SOCCER
Nigel Pearson charged
Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association (FA) on Wednesday after last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at home to Charlton Athletic. “It is alleged the Leicester City manager’s language and/or behavior following the end of his side’s fixture at Charlton Athletic on 31 August 2013 amounted to improper conduct,” the FA said in a statement. Pearson said some of the decisions of referee Darren Deadman “beggared belief” after Leicester’s Matty James was sent off for dissent and a foul on keeper Kasper Schmeichel was not spotted. He was given until 5pm GMT today to respond to the charge.
RUGBY UNION
Arnold banned for biting
Australian Rory Arnold was given a seven-match ban on Wednesday for biting an opponent during a Currie Cup match last weekend. The suspension rules him out of the rest of the South African rugby competition this season unless his Griquas team reach the final. Debutant Arnold was red-carded 62 minutes into a 40-20 loss to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday after opposition hooker Ethienne Reynecke showed the referee bite marks on his arm and the television match official said Arnold was responsible. Wagga Wagga-born Arnold, 23, pleaded not guilty. Judicial officer Peter Ingwersen found Reynecke’s initial reaction telling, as he instinctively complained to the referees.
SOCCER
Kace sparks controversy
Albanian soccer international Ergys Kace on Wednesday deleted his Facebook page after causing an uproar in the Greek press with a picture he posted featuring the name of a Kosovan militant group. The 20-year-old midfielder for Greek club PAOK had posted a picture in which he was wearing a T-shirt printed with “UCK,” the Albanian abbreviation for the ethnic-Albanian paramilitary organization the Kosovo Liberation Army. Before erasing his Facebook account, Kace apologized saying the T-shirt belonged to a friend. “Those who know me know my character and know that I do not [support] the UCK. I respect Greece,” Kace wrote. The Thessaloniki club did not issue a statement, but team officials have told the Greek press that they feel the case is closed. The UCK sought the separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia during the 1990s.
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