SOCCER
Galliani will stay: Berlusconi
AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi insisted on Saturday that chief executive Adriano Galliani will stay at the club despite the latter’s claim on Friday that he would resign. Galliani, who is also a vice-president of the club, responded to recent criticism by saying he would resign in a few days. The move came after a miserable first half of the season that sees the Rossoneri struggling in the bottom half of Serie A. “Serenity has returned to Milan, Adriano Galliani will remain in his position,” said Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister. Berlusconi later released a statement confirming that a new organizational structure had been agreed in the club, with Galliani running the sporting sector and the owner’s daughter, Barbara Berlusconi, in charge of all other sectors. Asked to comment on Silvio Berlusconi’s statement, Galliani said: “The president’s words have been sacred for 34 years and are not commented upon.”
CRICKET
Ireland retain T20 crown
Ireland won the ICC World Twenty20 qualifier title for the third time in four appearances with a 68-run victory over Afghanistan in Saturday’s final in Dubai. The defending champions posted 225 with Trent Johnston smashing 62 off just 32 balls. Johnston then returned bowling figures of 3-34 to take the man-of-the-match award. Paul Stirling top-scored for Ireland with a 43-ball 76. In the third-fourth placed play-off Nepal beat United Arab Emirates by five wickets.
SOCCER
Ethiopia and Kenya win
Favorites Ethiopia and Kenya registered identical 3-1 wins over Zanzibar and South Sudan on Saturday to move level on points in Group A of the Cecafa Challenge Cup Championship. Ethiopia dominated the first half with their attacking play as their strikers caused havoc with their pace. Fasika Asfaw made tapped in the ball from close range in the fifth minute and the Ethiopians increased their lead in the 37th when Salahadin Bargicho slotted home from the penalty spot. Zanzibar pulled one back through Awadh Juma in the 68th minute, but Rashid Kebede’s 86th minute strike put the result beyond doubt for the three-time champions, who are tied on four points with Kenya in Group A. Kenya squandered numerous scoring chances against South Sudan. A Jockins Atudo penalty in the 16th minute put Kenya ahead but three minutes later the Sudanese drew level from Justin Lado’s free-kick. Jacob Keli restored Kenya’s lead in 29th minute and David Owino scored in the 77th minute to seal the win.
SOCCER
Rangers into last 16
Fallen giants Rangers needed two late goals to book their place in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup with a 2-0 victory over Falkirk on Saturday. Rangers had the best of the first half chances, but lacked a killer touch in front of goal. The League One side had a great chance to make the breakthrough when Falkirk were reduced to 10 men in the 57th minute. David McCracken was shown a straight red card after he clipped the heels of Nicky Clark as he chased down a headed flick-on in the box, but Michael McGovern saved Lee McCulloch’s penalty and the Rangers skipper’s follow-up was ruled out for offside. The match looked to be heading to a replay before Nicky Law gave Rangers a deserved lead in the 89th minute. Ian Black’s free-kick was knocked down and Law angled a low shot through a ruck of players into the far corner. David Templeton sealed the win with a goal two minutes into stoppage time.
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