SOCCER
Czech player goal kicks butt
Who has soccer’s most famous bottom? A little-known Czech player is in with a fair chance after scoring an unlikely butt-kick goal that made him an online hit. David Hovorka, a reserve player for AC Sparta Prague, sent the ball spinning home with a decisive backside volley 25 minutes into a game against rivals Meteor. “I jumped for a volley kick, but I twisted my body a bit too far around, and so I used my bottom,” the 20-year-old defender told the Sport daily on Wednesday. Sparta Prague went on to win the third-division game 3-0. Footage of his anatomical feat has drawn about 700,000 views on YouTube. Hovorka said it was a “spontaneous gesture.” “I just burst out laughing. It’s true I’d never scored a goal like that before,” he said.
BOXING
Klitschko ready for Povetkin
Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is confident that he will put an end to Alexander Povetkin’s undefeated record when he defends his WBA and IBF belts against the Russian at the Olympic Stadium tomorrow. After open training sessions in front of media on Wednesday, Klitschko (60-3, 51 KO) said he came to Moscow to win any way he could. “That’s what I will do on Oct. 5,” Klitschko said. “Believe me, I will do everything for my victory.” However, Klitschko made it clear he would not underestimate Povetkin. “He hasn’t lost or drawn a fight and was never knocked down,” Klitschko said. Povetkin (26-0, 18 KO) avoided the usual pre-bout banter and said he was just preparing for the fight. “There’s no need for extra words,” the Russian said. “I could have said that I would bury him or something like this, but you will see it on Saturday.”
SOCCER
Napoli fans blamed for attack
SSC Napoli fans were blamed on Wednesday for an attack on a restaurant near Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium prior to Tuesday’s Champions League tie in London that the home side won 2-0. The London Metropolitan Police Service said the incident, which saw one man assaulted and the window of the Piebury Corner restaurant smashed, started when about 30 Napoli supporters became involved in a verbal exchange with Arsenal fans. Piebury Corner manager Paul Campbell said Arsenal fans had played no part in the build-up. The police statement added: “The Napoli fans then turned violent, smashing a window and throwing a number of chairs before moving on.” Arsenal supporters had to duck for cover and a 48-year-old man was taken to hospital with lacerations to his head, after witnesses reported that a group of Italian men had been swinging belts and throwing tables and chairs in the restaurant.
CRICKET
Afghanistan near World Cup
Afghanistan moved to within just one victory of a place in the World Cup 2015 after beating Kenya by eight wickets in the first of two one-day internationals (ODIs) in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Wednesday. Kenya chose to bat, but were skittled out for 89 runs in 37.5 overs, with Hamid Hassan claiming 4-19. In reply, Nawroz Mangal hit three fours and four sixes in a 60-ball 52, and Mohammad Shahzad scored a 41-ball 33 as Afghanistan achieved victory for the loss of two wickets inside 18 overs. The two openers put on 79 runs for the first wicket in just more than 16 overs. The win has moved Afghanistan one point behind the UAE and the Netherlands. Should Afghanistan win the today’s ODI, they would climb to second position behind Ireland and qualify for their maiden ICC Cricket World Cup. If they lose, the UAE will qualify.
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