CYCLING
Pinot wins, Zakarin leads
Frenchman Thibaut Pinot came home alone to celebrate his first win of the season in Saturday’s fifth stage of the Tour de Romandie, which saw Russia’s Ilnur Zakarin take the yellow jersey from Michael Albasini. Pinot took off in the final 5km of the mountainous 162.7km ride from Fribourg to Champex-Lac, Switzerland. He finished 7 seconds ahead of Zakarin and 20 seconds ahead of a five-man group which included favorites two-time champion Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana, as well as fellow Frenchman Romain Bardet. Zakarin, 25, benefited from an awful day for previous overall leader Albasini, who finished more than 20 minutes after Pinot. Yesterday’s final stage, a 17.3km time trial in Lausanne, was to be the decider as Zakarin held a six second lead over Pinot. Third-placed Froome was also looming just 14 seconds behind, while Quintana trailed by 54 seconds.
TENNIS
Ivanovic survives scare
World No. 7 Ana Ivanovic fought back from a set down to move into the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday after Alexandra Dulgheru retired when trailing 4-0 in the decider. The Romanian wild-card shocked Eugenie Bouchard on Fed Cup duty last month and looked on course to produce another upset when she eased through the first set 6-2 and then broke the Serbian to serve for the match at 6-5 in the second. However, Ivanovic broke straight back and then romped through the tiebreak 7/1 to force a deciding set. An ailing Dulgheru then withdrew after Ivanovic took a commanding 4-0 lead. Eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova was a high-profile exit, though, as she was routed by fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-1. Australian Open semi-finalist Madison Keys also crashed out as she was beaten by Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-3. Agnieszka Radwanska won her first match since ending a brief five-month spell with Martina Navratilova as coach in comfortable fashion as she eased past Lara Arruabarrena of Spain 6-4, 6-3, while Sloane Stephens set up a potential second-round encounter with Serena Williams when she came from a set down to beat fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
TENNIS
Hsieh claims Nanning title
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei defeated South Korea’s Jang Su-jeong 6-2, 6-3 yesterday to win the women’s singles title at an International Tennis Federation tournament in Nanning, China. The 20-year-old Jang had previously won ITF singles titles in Clare, Australia, and Bangkok in February and March respectively. Hsieh won an ITF singles title in Shenzhen, China, last month. She next travels to the Mutua Madrid Open, where she is competing in the doubles with Flavia Pennetta of Italy. The Taiwanese-Italian duo are seeded fourth.
MOTOGP
Lorenzo wins Spanish GP
Jorge Lorenzo won his first race of the season after leading the Spanish Grand Prix from start to finish yesterday. The two-time former champion had a good start from pole position and steered his Yamaha unchallenged through the 28 laps of the 4.4km Jerez Circuit. Defending champion Marc Marquez, who had a broken finger operated on last week, kept his Honda in second place all the way behind his fellow Spaniard. Valentino Rossi was a distant third on his Yamaha. It was Lorenzo’s 34th win in the top category after failing to make the podium in the season’s first three races.
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