FOOTBALL
Jaguars sorry for Ebola joke
The Jacksonville Jaguars have apologized for their mascot using the Ebola epidemic to mock the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jaxson de Ville held one of Pittsburgh’s famed yellow “Terrible Towels” next to a homemade sign that read “TOWELS CARRY EBOLA” during Sunday’s game. Team president Mark Lamping said the Jaguars had no prior knowledge of the sign and will handle the matter internally. Lamping said “improvisation and humor have both been key elements to the character of Jaxson de Ville, especially when he performs at home games. On Sunday, the person who has played Jaxson de Ville over the past 20 seasons made an extremely poor decision in that regard. We extend our sincerest apologies to anyone who was offended.”
TENNIS
Voegele advances in Linz
Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland won the last three games to edge sixth-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 in the opening round of the Generali Ladies on Monday. Voegele next faces Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia, who saved 10 of 16 break points to defeat Annika Beck of Germany 7-6 (8/6), 6-4. Also, Marina Erakovic of New Zealand defeated eighth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. The Croatian-born Erakovic hit eight aces and improved to 4-1 against Garcia. Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard of Canada is the top-seeded player at the indoor hard-court event.
SOCCER
Di Matteo to coach Schalke
Schalke 04 have appointed former Chelsea coach Roberto di Matteo as a replacement for Jens Keller, who was sacked earlier yesterday after an inconsistent start to the season. Italian Di Matteo has limited top flight coaching experience, although he did land the Chelsea job after leading the side to Champions League success in 2011-2012 as a caretaker manager, but was fired after eight months when their form dipped. The 44-year-old former Italy international had two other managerial stints in England, coaching West Bromwich Albion and lower-division side Milton Keynes Dons. Schalke have been struggling domestically this season and have recorded just two wins in 10 competitive games. Despite crashing out of the German Cup to a third-tier club in the first round, Schalke have enjoyed a relatively good start in the Champions League, drawing 1-1 at Chelsea, before matching that result against NK Maribor in their second group game. However, in the Bundesliga, Schalke are languishing in 11th place on seven points after recording just two wins.
SOCCER
Bale retains FAW honor
Real Madrid star Gareth Bale set a new record after being voted Welsh soccer player of the year for the fourth time on Monday. Former Manchester United striker Mark Hughes and ex-Arsenal forward John Hartson had individually received the Football Association of Wales (FAW) award on three occasions, but Bale is the first to take the crown four times. The 25-year-old forward retained the trophy at the FAW awards dinner at Cardiff’s St David’s Hotel and has now won it four times over the past five years. Bale’s incredible year saw him win the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the Copa del Rey for Real, while his performances for Wales have also caught the eye. The former Tottenham Hotspur player scored both goals in Wales’ opening Euro 2016 qualifier last month, a 2-1 win in Andorra, and has now scored 10 times in his past 11 internationals. Bale also picked up the fans’ player of the year trophy for the fourth year in succession.
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