BOXING
Kameda beats Hernandez
WBO bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda kept his unbeaten record alive with a split decision victory over Mexico’s Alejandro Hernandez in Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday night. Japan’s Kameda improved to 31-0 as he set the tone by consistently beating Hernandez to the punch over the first eight rounds of the 12-round contest. He tried, but failed to get his 20th career knockout. The 23-year-old Kameda, who was born in Japan, but moved to Mexico at age 15, won by scores of 115-113 on two of the judges’ scorecards. The other judge had Hernandez (28-11-2) winning by the same score. Kameda suffered a cut over his left eye in the ninth round, but he managed to fight through it for the win. This marked just the second fight for Kameda on US soil. He fought and beat Pungluang Singyu in Las Vegas in July. The majority of his fights have taken place in Mexico or Asia.
UNICYCLING
Taoyuan sets world record
Taoyuan County set a Guinness World Record on Saturday for the most people completing a unicycle event. A total of 2,362 people from different parts of the nation had registered to take part in the event, and 2,050 set off from the starting line, according to the organizers. The 500m course was completed by 1,682 unicyclists who met the requirement of not dismounting, the organizers said. The feat broke the record held by Germany since 2005, when 1,142 people completed the distance. The event was part of the 2014 International Unicycle Carnival, which was held to celebrate the county’s upcoming elevation to the status of a special municipality next month.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Kangaroos beat England
Australia stayed alive in the Four Nations rugby league tournament with a thrilling 16-12 comeback win over England in Melbourne yesterday. Facing the threat of missing their first major final in 60 years, the Kangaroos clawed back after trailing 12-4 at half-time to score two converted tries in the second half. England, who would have joined New Zealand in the final with victory, led up until 17 minutes from fulltime as the Kangaroos came home strongly. The match finished controversially when the video referee disallowed a fingertip try to winger Ryan Hall in the final minute which would have given England a winning chance with a sideline conversion.
GOLF
Moore retains CIMB title
American Ryan Moore won the CIMB Classic at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in Malaysia yesterday, successfully defending the title he won last year. Moore started the final day tied for the lead with countryman Kevin Na, but finished three shots clear of the field at 17-under-par after closing with a 67. His final round featured eight birdies and although he also made three bogeys, the 31-year-old held his composure to claim his fourth career PGA Tour and second Asian Tour title. “It was incredible to finish the way I did,” he told a news conference. “Coming down to the last few holes, I like to tell myself all the time that I’m a closer. That’s what I play golf for.” “It’s been a great week, I’m a little bit lost for words,” Moore said in a televised interview. “To come back and defend a title, it’s something I’ve never before.” Spain’s Sergio Garcia, the highest-ranked player in the field at fourth in the world, drained a long par putt on the final hole to finish with a 69 in a three-way tie for second. He made three birdies on the front nine, but lost his chance with a double bogey on the par-five 10th.
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