RUGBY UNION
Cummins to play in Japan
Australia winger Nick Cummins has forgone a chance to play in next year’s World Cup after signing to play in Japan from next year. The 26-year-old has been granted a release from his contracts with the Australian Rugby Union and the Western Force to join the Coca-Cola West Red Sparks for the next Japanese season. Western Force chief executive Mark Sinderberry said Cummins was granted a release on compassionate grounds. He did not elaborate on the circumstances, other than saying Cummins “faces a very unique set of challenges. We are aware of the reasons and, in good time, Nick will be the person to speak through those reasons.” Cummins, known as the Honey Badger, played 15 Tests for Australia, including all three against France last month.
FORMULA ONE
Button hits back at Dennis
Jenson Button has hit back at McLaren team boss Ron Dennis for saying the 2009 world champion needs to try harder to be more successful. Button, the most experienced active driver in Formula One, reacted during a press conference at Silverstone on Thursday for the British Grand Prix this weekend. He said McLaren’s poor form and lack of competitiveness is not the fault of one man, but the team as a whole. “Ron is practicing to be a motivational speaker, maybe. When we are in the position we have been in for 18 months, it is not easy,” Button said.
CRICKET
Indians target Sharapova
Outraged cricket fans have left thousands of angry messages on Maria Sharapova’s Facebook page after she admitted not recognizing cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar, considered a demi-god in his home country and an all-time great of the game, was among a star-studded crowd that watched Sharapova at Wimbledon last weekend. When asked if she recognized the recently retired batsman, seated next to former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss and soccer star David Beckham, she reportedly replied that she did not. “I was one of the biggest fans of you as a tennis star, but now I will never see your matches,” wrote Vivek Kumar Pandey in one of the milder messages on the Russian tennis player’s Facebook page. Others used foul language and made threats, while Twitter users took up the tongue-in-cheek #whoismariasharapova hashtag, which began trending. For some, the hurt pride was misplaced. “Why splutter over Sharapova not knowing Sachin?” leading TV presenter Barkha Dutt wrote on Twitter yesterday. “Does it matter? Doesn’t diminish him, but makes us sound insecure.”
FOOTBALL
Brazill suspended again
Indianapolis Colts backup wide receiver LaVon Brazill has been suspended for the NFL season for substance abuse. Brazill was suspended for the first four games last season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He said at the time it was for marijuana use. Brazill played in 10 games last season, finishing with 12 catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns. In two seasons, he has 23 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns. He was drafted in 2012. The league also banned two other players for four games. Miami Dolphins defensive end Dion Jordan was suspended for doping, while Kansas City Chiefs backup offensive lineman Rokevious Watkins for undisclosed violations. Jordan said in a press release that he tested positive for a stimulant and takes “full responsibility.” Watkins played one game for St Louis in 2012 and three for Kansas City last year.
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