SOCCER
Jules Rimet piece found
A piece of the original World Cup trophy, which was stolen in Brazil in 1983 and never recovered, has been found in a basement at FIFA’s headquarters — part of the base of the Jules Rimet trophy. It is engraved with the names of the first four World Cup winners, who were Uruguay in 1930 and 1950, and Italy in 1934 and 1938. The trophy, which was handed to Brazil permanently after they won the World Cup for the third time in 1970, was also stolen three months before the 1966 World Cup was staged in England. That time, it was recovered a week later after being found in a south London hedge by a dog named Pickles. David Ausseil, the creative director of FIFA’s museum that is due to open in March next year, said the 10cm high octagonal relic will be displayed in the museum. In the early 1970s, FIFA commissioned a new trophy for the 10th World Cup in West Germany in 1974. Unlike the previous trophy, which was awarded to a nation winning three World Cups, the current trophy remains in FIFA’s possession, but a replica is awarded to three-time winners instead.
SOCCER
Milan reach quarter-finals
Nigel de Jong scored an 86th-minute winner as AC Milan beat US Sassuolo 2-1 on Tuesday to reach the Coppa Italia quarter-finals and avenge a defeat to the same opponents last week. Giampaolo Pazzini put Milan ahead after 38 minutes at the San Siro with an acrobatic shot following a cross from newly signed Alessio Cerci. Nicola Sansone equalized with a penalty in the 64th, but De Jong prevented extra-time by volleying in the rebound after a shot by Andrea Poli hit the crossbar. Last week, Sassuolo beat Milan 2-1 in Serie A. Milan next face either Torino or SS Lazio.
CLIMBING
El Capitan to be conquered
Two climbers trying to become the first to scale a 900m face of the El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park in California, without bolts or climbing tools, believed they would reach the top yesterday, representatives said. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson, who began their latest attempt to conquer El Capitan on Dec. 27 last year, started climbing the final 11 “pitches” of the so-called Dawn Wall on Tuesday, spokeswoman Jess Clayton said. The Dawn Wall of El Capitan is divided into 32 climbing pitches, which are varying lengths of rock that the climbers are trying to master with only their hands and feet. The wall has been scaled before, first by legendary climber Warren Harding in 1970, but never before without climbing tools. Caldwell and Jorgeson are using safety ropes in case of falls, and using ropes and other tools to move back and forth from their campsite perched high on the rock.
SOCCER
US keeper case dismissed
A domestic violence case against US women’s soccer team goalkeeper Hope Solo was dismissed by a Seattle judge on Tuesday, her attorney said. Solo, 33, who has played on two Olympic gold medal-winning teams, had pleaded not guilty to striking her sister and nephew during a dispute in June last year at her home in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. She had been slated to stand trial next week. “Today’s decision brings closure to what has been one of the most difficult and emotionally draining times of my life,” Solo said in a statement on Facebook in which she thanked her fellow players, coaches and others, “all of whom, under great pressure to do otherwise, chose to stand by and believe in me.”
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