RUGBY UNION
Fiji notch up win over US
Winger Watisoni Votu scored a double and Fiji survived a second-half rally from the US on Friday to win 20-14 for its first victory on its northern hemisphere tour. Tries from fullback Timoci Nagusa and Votu helped Fiji take a 15-0 half-time lead, with Nemani Nadolo kicking a conversion and a penalty. The US responded early in the second period with center Seamus Kelly crossing for a try and fullback Ronnie McLean adding the conversion. Votu’s second try extended Fiji’s lead to 20-7, before Biarritz’s Takudzwa Ngwenya scored the US’ second try in the 60th, with McLean again converting.
SQUASH
Ashour claims World Open
Ramy Ashour won one of the greatest World Open finals on Friday when he saved a match point to triumph 13-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-5, 14-12 against his Egyptian compatriot Mohamed El Shorbagy in Doha. Shorbagy, who has just become world No. 1 for the first time, proved a hero himself, saving five match points in a row from 5-10 down in the final game. In the end, however, Ashour’s brilliant creativity prevailed by the narrowest margins over El Shorbagy’s power and strength, earning him his third world title.
BASKETBALL
Serbian fan dies in stabbing
A 25-year-old Red Star Belgrade fan was stabbed to death in fan violence before the team’s Euroleague basketball match at Galatasaray in Istanbul on Friday, the Serbian consul in the Turkish capital told Serbia’s state television (RTS). “It was an act of hostility and a terrible tragedy ... I am distraught,” Zoran Markovic told RTS. Trouble flared up outside the Abdi Ikpeci Arena in Istanbul before the match when about 400 Red Star fans arrived, but were banned from entering, according to RTS. Rival fans then clashed before riot police moved in with tear gas to quell the violence, the channel said, while adding that Turkish media had reported that Red Star fans demolished several cars and shop windows in the area as they retreated. Galatasaray won the match 110-103 in double overtime.
ATHLETICS
Athletes of year named
Pole vault indoor record holder Renaud Lavillenie of France and shot putter Valerie Adams of New Zealand were named world athletes of the year on Friday. The 28-year-old Lavillenie succeeded Usain Bolt after clearing 6.16m to take Sergei Bubka’s 21-year-old mark in February. Adams, the Olympic champion, was unbeaten while winning gold at the indoor worlds and Commonwealth Games.
SOCCER
Clubs in lose-lose situation
Indonesian soccer authorities have banned 12 players and officials for life over an own-goal fiasco in a playoff match. The Indonesian Football Association says three other officials of clubs PSS Sleman and PSIS Semarang have been banned for 10 years. Sleman, which won 3-2, conceded two late own-goals in an attempt to lose, but Semarang then conceded three. A disciplinary committee decided both teams wanted to lose in order to avoid a semi-final match against Borneo. Both teams have been relegated from the first division. Seventeen other players, including two foreigners, were barred for five years, while 11 substitute players were banned for one year with five years of probation. Many of them were also ordered to pay fines ranging from US$4,125 to US$16,500.
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