SOCCER
Genoa brings Parma to earth
Bottom-of-the-table Parma, shock winners over Serie A leaders Juventus on Saturday, were brought down to earth on Wednesday when they lost 2-0 at Genoa. Iago Falque and Leonardo Pavoletti scored in each half in a match that had been postponed from March because of Parma’s financial problems. Parma, who have been declared bankrupt and have not paid their players all season, stayed five points adrift at the bottom with 16 points from 30 games, having had three deducted for breaching Serie A financial regulations. Roberto Donadoni’s team had staged a mini-revival, taking seven points from their previous three games, but Wednesday’s defeat looks to have scuppered any hopes of an escape act. Genoa quickly took control and Falque put them ahead when he side-footed in Marco Borriello’s cross after Parma had lost possession in midfield. Substitute Pavoletti settled the match in the 76th minute when he ran on to Diego Perotti’s through pass to fire past Antonio Mirante.
OLYMPICS
Sprinter Magakwe banned
Leading South African sprinter Simon Magakwe will miss next year’s Olympic Games after refusing to take an out-of-competition doping test, the national association announced on Wednesday. The defiance of the 28-year-old 100m runner triggered a two-year ban from international athletics, ruling him out of the Rio Olympics and the world championship in Beijing this year. National athletics association president Aleck Skhosana said the former African 100m champion was asked to take the test in South Africa in December last year, but declined.
OLYMPICS
Phelps targeting Rio
Michael Phelps will not compete at the world championships, but the 18-time gold medalist will attempt to add to his Olympic legacy by competing at next year’s Rio Games. Since coming out of retirement two years ago, there had been widespread speculation Phelps, considered the greatest swimmer of all-time, was targeting a comeback at Rio, although the 29-year-old American did not confirm that until Wednesday. “You guys heard it here first,” Phelps said in a story on the BBC Web site. “I am looking forward to next year. I don’t think it’s too hard to really realize why I came back.” Phelps returns to competition this week at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Mesa, Arizona, after serving a six-month suspension imposed by USA Swimming for a drunk driving conviction. He was also banned from the world championships in Kazan as part of the punishment.
SOCCER
LFP president threatened
The Paris prosecutor’s office have opened an investigation into death threats made against Professional Football League (LFP) president Frederic Thiriez by Bastia fans, judicial sources said yesterday. Thiriez, 62, made the complaint to police on Wednesday after threats made on social media, notably Twitter, sometimes in the Corsican language, before Saturday’s League Cup final, which SC Bastia lost 4-0 to Paris Saint-Germain. Graffiti was also scrawled on the Fontaine des Innocents in central Paris that declared that Thiriez would “go the same way as Erignac” in reference to Claude Erignac, the prefect of Corsica who was assassinated in Ajaccio in 1998. The preliminary investigation by police into “death threats in writing” will try to identify the authors of the threatening tweets.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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