RUGBY UNION
Players in machete attack
Three France internationals who play for Clermont Auvergne have been injured in a machete attack by a gang in southern France, police said on Sunday. Aurelien Rougerie, Julien Pierre and Benjamin Kayser were attacked by a 12-strong gang in Millau in the early hours of Sunday morning. A club statement said none of the players’ injuries were life-threatening, adding that weapons used included machetes, knives and swords. The players had been to a nightclub and were walking back to their hotel when they were set upon by the gang for no apparent reason, police said, adding that no one was detained at the scene of the attack. Pierre, who along with Rougerie was part of the France team that lost the 2011 World Cup final, will have surgery on “deep cuts” to his hip.
MOTOR RACING
Conway wins in Toronto
Mike Conway has won the second race of IndyCar’s doubleheader in Toronto, where rain forced the series to run both races on Sunday. The first race was washed out on Saturday and run a little more than five hours before the second race. Rain again played a role as a brief shower soaked the track and forced teams to use varying tire strategies to combat the slick surface. Conway was one of the first drivers to replace the rain tires when the track began to dry and it put him in position to win a race. It was Conway’s second win of the season. Sebastien Bourdais won the first race.
ATHLETICS
Porter stuns champ Pearson
Britain’s Tiffany Porter stunned Australia’s Olympic 100m hurdles champion Sally Pearson at the Anniversary Games on Sunday in a timely warning ahead of their Commonwealth Games duel. US-born Porter won the race, which was staged at London’s Horse Guards Parade, in 12.71 seconds, despite Pearson enjoying the better start. Brianna Rollins, the world champion, was second, with Pearson clocking 12.79 back in third. In the men’s 100m, Michael Rodgers of the US won in 9.91 seconds.
ATHLETICS
Bolt to run on Rio beach
Jamaican world-record holder Usain Bolt is to return to Rio de Janeiro next month to run a special 100m on the beach, he said on his Web site on Sunday. The six-time Olympic gold medalist added the Aug. 17 “Mano a Mano” 100m on Copacabana Beach to three previously announced races in what he said was his finalized schedule for this year. Bolt has delayed opening his season this year because of a foot injury and will start with a 4x100m relay with his Jamaica teammates at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Aug 1 and Aug. 2. The eight-time world champion will also run 100m races in Warsaw, Poland, on Aug 23 and at the Zurich Diamond League meeting on Aug 28.
RUGBY UNION
Kevin Skinner dies aged 86
Former All Blacks captain Kevin Skinner died on Monday at his home in Auckland aged 86, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) said. “Kevin was a much-admired player, regarded by many as one of New Zealand’s greatest props,” NZRU chairman Brent Impey said. Skinner made his international debut at 21 in 1949 and retired for the first time in 1954, but Impey said it was his return to the game in 1956 that earned him a place in rugby folklore. South Africa were 1-1 with the All Blacks and had dominated the scrum before Skinner was called in to take them on. The rugged forward delivered and the All Blacks won the next two Tests for their first ever series win over South Africa.
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