SOCCER
Qatar to be fine hosts: Emir
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Thursday said the Gulf state will put on one of the finest World Cups in history when it hosts the tournament in 2022. Qatar and soccer’s world governing body FIFA are coming under increasing pressure to take the 2022 showpiece away from a country that has little sporting infrastructure or soccer culture, while there have been accusations of bribery in the bidding process. Europe’s top leagues are also firmly against any suggestion that the World Cup be moved to the winter to avoid the sweltering summer months in Qatar, while there have been allegations of horrific working conditions for migrant workers building stadiums and infrastructure. “People should understand that Qatar had the best bid, and Qatar will provide and will do one of the best World Cups in history, and I’m sure about that,” the sheikh told CNN. “People don’t want to accept, don’t want to realize that a small country, Arab, Muslim country, can host a big event like that.” He said that Qatar was ready to host either a winter or summer World Cup. “Our bid was for it to be in summer,” he said. “At the end, it’s up to FIFA to decide when is the best time.”
SOCCER
Gyan denies ritual killing
Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan has broken his silence to defend himself and his family against “wild and ludicrous” media reports that he was involved in an alleged ritual killing of a disappeared rapper. The striker used his Twitter account to post a link to a statement issued through a lawyer to set the record straight after the disappearance in July of rapper Castro and his girlfriend, Janet Bandu. The pair were on holiday with Gyan in the coastal town of Ada when they disappeared while using a jet ski, which was recovered without any trace of their bodies. “Sadly, the expression of empathy during a person’s moment of grief and utter dismay does not sell in the media,” the statement said. “What sells in the media, and what indeed sold and is still selling in the media in Ghana, are wild allegations and rumors directed especially at Asamoah Gyan, ranging from the absurd... and ending with the ludicrous — that he sacrificed him spiritually to enhance his career.”
ATHLETICS
Isinbayeva to take year off
Double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva will not compete next year, but is fixing her sights on the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, the Russian said on Thursday. “I am now fully busy with my daughter and family, and doing only light exercises. I will start full training no earlier than June 2015,” she wrote on her Instagram page. The 32-year-old, the world-record holder and a three-time world champion, gave birth to a daughter in June. “The main goal for me is the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, so in 2015 I will not participate in competition,” she added.
GOLF
Mark Brown cards a 59
Mark Brown shot a 59 at the Tauranga Open in New Zealand yesterday, beating par by 11 strokes and joining a small group of players to have carded a round under 60 in a professional tournament. The former European Tour player sank a 14-foot putt on the par-four 10th hole — the last of his round — to return the best score of his career. Brown carded 26 with a blaze of birdies on his second nine, but did not realize until late in his round he was in with a chance of breaking 60. “I actually lost track,” he said. “I did a wee tally up on the second-to-last hole and realized I just needed one more birdie. Luckily the 10th hole is relatively straightforward.”
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