RUGBY SEVENS
Taiwan demolished
Taiwan’s Sevens rugby team were demolished in pool play at the Malaysia leg of the Asian Sevens series yesterday, which made for grim prospects at future events, including the Asian Games later this month. Taiwan were shut out 33-0 in their opening game against Singapore, during which they played with six for a period due to a sin-binning, and Japan put them last in the three-team group with a 40-0 hiding. Taiwan are to play the last-place team from Pool A, the Philippines, at 1:28pm today in a Bowl semi-final. The series began in Hong Kong, where Taiwan did not play, and is to have its third leg in China next month, after a tournament as part of the Asian Games, which are to begin on Sept. 19 in Incheon, South Korea.
BOXING
Brook in stable condition
IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook is in a stable condition in hospital after being stabbed in the leg while on holiday in Tenerife on Thursday. England’s Brook, who beat American Shawn Porter on points last month to claim the title, is recovering after an alleged altercation at an apartment complex. He will remain in hospital before returning to his hometown Sheffield tomorrow to begin his rehabilitation. “I was out enjoying a night out before returning home to the UK when I was the victim of an unprovoked attack,” the 28-year-old said in a statement on Friday. His promoter Eddie Hearn had scheduled a homecoming fight against an unnamed opponent on Dec. 6, but said it would be unrealistic to expect Brook, who is unbeaten in 33 professional bouts, to get in the ring.
CYCLING
Navarro wins stage 13
Daniel Navarro of Spain surged forward and hung on to win the 13th stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Friday, while countryman Alberto Contador kept the overall leader’s red jersey. Navarro finished the 189km mountainous ride from Belorado to Obregon two seconds ahead of Daniel Moreno and Wilco Kelderman. Contador fended off several charges by Alejandro Valverde to retain a 20-second overall lead. Rigoberto Uran remained in third, 1:08 behind, and Chris Froome was still 1:20 behind in fourth.
CRICKET
Windies lead first Test
Opener Kraigg Braithwaite’s confident unbeaten 123 led West Indies to 264 for three at the close on the opening day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Kingstown, St Vincent, on Friday. Barbadian Brathwaite shared a commanding 116-run opening partnership with Chris Gayle as the home side made a strong start at Arnos Vale to the two-Test series. Gayle, who has become one of Twenty20 cricket’s leading global players, switched into long-form mode with a patient 64 from 105 balls. The West Indies opening pair looked comfortable against Bangladesh seamers Al-Amin Hossain and Rubel Hossain, reaching 103 without loss by lunch, but the tourists’ spinners slowed them in the afternoon session.
GOLF
Ramsay leads Masters
Richie Ramsay shot a four-under 66 on Friday to lead Ryder Cup rookie Jamie Donaldson by one stroke in the second round of the European Masters in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. The 2012 champion from Scotland had a 12-under total of 128 after starting in morning rain on the 6,848-yard Severiano Ballesteros course in the Swiss Alps. Donaldson had seven birdies and a bogey in his afternoon 64, putting him in good position to follow up his win at the Czech Masters two weeks ago.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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