RUGBY UNION
Nadolo stays with ’Saders
Fijian winger Nemani Nadolo, the joint-highest tryscorer in Super Rugby last season, has signed a deal that will keep him at the Canterbury Crusaders for another two years, the seven-time champions said yesterday. The 26-year-old’s 12th try of the season in the Super Rugby final last weekend allowed him to match Israel Folau’s tally. A big, powerful runner who has proved hard to knock off his stride this year, Nadolo’s signing for next season is a major boost to the Crusaders and coach Todd Blackaddder. “Nemani has fitted so well into our environment. He is much loved by his teammates and by our fans so we are thrilled that we will all be able to enjoy more of the big man next year,” Blackadder said in a news release.
RUGBY UNION
Hunting ’Saders get flak
Conservationists have criticized players from New Zealand’s Canterbury Crusaders for killing wildlife, including a zebra, while touring in South Africa, then posing in photographs with the “trophy” carcasses. South African conservation group The Landmark Foundation posted pictures on Facebook showing five Crusaders players with the animals, alongside the caption: “Here are the Crusaders rugby players killing wildlife for laughs on a recent visit to South Africa.” The players include All Black lock Sam Whitelock and inside back Tom Taylor, who has blood smeared on his face in one shot as he holds a rifle in one hand and the horn of a dead blesbok antelope in the other. Foundation director Bool Smuts said the animals were most likely killed on a private game farm. “This was not hunting for the pot, this was hunting for the joy of killing the animal,” he told the New Zealand Herald. “We accept it was legal... the question we are asking is to what value is it for conservation and is it an ethical practice?” Whitelock told New Zealand broadcaster TV3 that the meat was given to local farm workers for food.
BASKETBALL
Oden arrested for battery
Police arrested former NBA No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden on battery charges early on Thursday, alleging that he punched his ex-girlfriend in the face during a fight. The free-agent center, who played for the Miami Heat last season, was arrested at his mother’s suburban home on two preliminary counts of misdemeanor battery. Oden, 26, was released from custody on Thursday evening on a US$10,000 bond. According to a police report, officers were called to the home at about 3:30am and found a 24-year-old woman on a sofa with a swollen, bloody face. A friend of the woman told officers that Oden had “punched her in the face.” The report says the injured woman was uncooperative and told officers she had fallen, but was unable to say when and where that occurred. According to the police report, Oden said he was arguing with his ex-girlfriend when “things got out of control” and he struck her as he swung his arms to try to break free of two people who were trying to hold him back.
BASKETBALL
Durant withdraws
Kevin Durant will not play for the US team defending their title at this month’s Basketball World Cup due to mental and physical exhaustion, the NBA most valuable player said on Thursday. The high-scoring Oklahoma City Thunder forward’s withdrawal follows the loss of the Indiana Pacers’ Paul George, who last week suffered a compound fracture of his right leg when he landed badly during a team scrimmage.
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