BASEBALL
Selfie use frowned upon
The White House warned on Thursday against using US President Barack Obama’s image for commercial gain, after a top baseball star snapped a “selfie” with the US leader on a Samsung phone. The company retweeted the shot taken by Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz on its Note 3 device, pouncing on a viral marketing coup. However, the White House, after initially holding its fire over the snap taken when the World-Series-winning Red Sox team met Obama, made its displeasure clear two days later. “As a rule, the White House objects to attempts to use the president’s likeness for commercial purposes,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. “We certainly object in this case,” he added, hinting that the White House counsel’s office had become involved, but declining to give details of any discussions with Samsung. The selfie shows a beaming Obama alongside Ortiz, holding a Red Sox jersey presented by the team.
GOLF
Doherty leads Cadiz Open
Jack Doherty, who only made it out of qualifying school at the 12th attempt last year, carved out a one-shot lead on the rain-hit first day of the Cadiz Open on Thursday. The 31-year-old Scot shrugged off a two-and-a-half hour delay to card five birdies and two bogeys. That form gave the former Australian amateur champion a three-under par 69 for a one shot lead over Welshman Bradley Dredge. The rain delay meant half of the 144-strong field were unable to complete their first rounds on Thursday.
SKYDIVING
Woman killed in Arizona
An attempt to set a world skydiving record by having more than 220 people free-fall from an airplane in formation turned tragic on Thursday when one jumper died during the effort at the same Arizona location where two skydivers fell to their deaths last year trying to set a different record. Police identified the person killed as Diana Paris, 46, from Berlin, Germany. Her husband told authorities she had completed 1,500 jumps in her skydiving career. Skydive Arizona blamed the accident on a malfunctioning parachute that was released too low to the ground to allow a reserve parachute to fully open. The skydiver was declared dead at the scene. “It had nothing to do with the size of the group or the aircraft,” World Team spokeswoman Gulcin Gilbert said. The accident occurred during an attempt to break a world formation record. The group of 222 people was to free-fall from about 5,480m then come together in a formation like a snowflake and separate and link in another formation before pulling their parachutes. The group did not set the record during the ill-fated jump or during several more after the death. They planned to continue yesterday with 221 skydivers. “Our dear friend cannot and will not be replaced,” said Gilbert, whose group organized the record attempt. “The group will continue to hold the slot open in the skydiver’s honor.”
CYCLING
Belgian wins home event
Belgium’s Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, riding for the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team, won the Three Days of De Panne on Thursday after making up a 20-second deficit on the final day’s time trial. Van Keirsbulck was fifth on the last stage, won by Maciej Bodnar of Cannondale Pro Cycling. Bodnar finished ahead of Jan Barta of the Czech Republic. Van Keirsbulck had started the final day in sixth place, 20 seconds behind overnight leader Gert Steegmans. In the overall standings, Van Keirsbulck finished ahead of Australia’s Luke Durbridge.
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