RUGBY SEVENS
Two teams book Rio berths
South Africa and Fiji became the first countries to assure themselves of a place in next year’s inaugural Olympic sevens tournament in Rio de Janeiro after winning through to the quarter-finals of the Glasgow Sevens on Saturday. The top four teams at the end of this season’s World Rugby Sevens will qualify automatically for next year’s tournament in Brazil. And with just the Scottish round plus next week’s finale in London to be completed, Saturday’s results assured South Africa and Fiji — first and second in the overall standings heading into the Glasgow event — of a place at the Olympics. “It’s a big moment for us,” South Africa’s Frankie Horne said in a World Rugby statement. “We have worked hard this season to qualify and it’s an historical event for the game of sevens to be in the Olympics,” he added. “We thoroughly deserve it, but it’s a great privilege and a great honor for us to be there and represent the game of sevens.”
RUGBY UNION
Malaysia trounce Taiwan
Malaysia scored a 46-13 win over Taiwan in their Division II Asian Rugby Championship game in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Taiwan led 13-10 at halftime, but leaked six tries in the second half. Taiwan on Wednesday are to play Thailand, who lost 53-22 to the United Arab Emirates yesterday. Taiwan face the UAE in their final game of the series on Saturday.
BOXING
Figueroa outpoints Burns
Undefeated Omar Figueroa unanimously outpointed Scotland’s Ricky Burns on Saturday in a super lightweight fight on the Premier Boxing Champions on CBS card at State Farm Arena in Hildago, Texas. In front of a raucous hometown crowd, Figueroa improved to 25-0-1. He received winning scores of 116-110 from two judges and 117-109 from the other. “Fighting a fight like that, it takes a lot to go even four rounds, much less 12,” Figueroa said. “With a fighter like that, leaning on you and using his weight on you, it’s tough. I’m just glad I was in shape and didn’t let my fans down. I’m a very offensive fighter, so the holding kind of slowed me down. I tried to do what I could and, thankfully, the judges saw that.” In a bantamweight fight, England’s Jamie McDonnell unanimously outpointed Japan’s previously unbeaten Tomoki Kameda, receiving scores of 114-113 from all three judges to successfully defend his WBA title and take Kameda’s WBO championship.
BOXING
Saul Alvarez wins by KO
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez knocked out James Kirkland with a sweeping right 2 minutes, 19 seconds into the third round in their fight in Houston, Texas, on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park. Moments after getting off the canvas after being decked with a flurry of punches, Kirkland took the devastating knockout punch and collapsed on his back.
BOXING
Chudinov claims WBA title
Fedor Chudinov of Russia defeated former middleweight champion Felix Sturm of Germany by split decision for the vacant WBA super middleweight title in Frankfurt, Germany, on Saturday. Two judges awarded it 116-112 and 118-110 in favor of Chudinov, while another awarded it 116-112 to Sturm, despite him rarely troubling the undefeated Russian, but for a brief flurry in the sixth and seventh rounds.
GOLF
Coetzee leads by a shot
South Africa’s George Coetzee took a one-shot lead into yesterday’s final round of the inaugural Mauritius Open following a bogey-free third round of 65 on Saturday. The 28-year-old two-time European Tour winner was one clear of compatriot Thomas Aiken and Denmark’s halfway leader Thorbjorn Olesen at Heritage Golf Club. Coetzee produced a stunning front nine, pitching in for eagle from the fairway on the seventh hole, following birdies on the second and fifth, before a further gain on the ninth. He picked up another shot on the 14th hole to move to 11-under for the tournament, with Aiken (68) and overnight leader Olesen (70) tied for second place on 10-under. “As I walked off the course, I told my manager I don’t know how I’m shooting under-par the way I’m playing, but obviously the course must suit my eye pretty well,” Coetzee said. Singapore’s Mardan Mamat was a further two shots back on eight-under following a round of 67.
ICE HOCKEY
Canada edge France 4-3
Canada kept their perfect record and stayed at the top of Group A at the World Championships after struggling to a 4-3 win over underdogs France on Saturday. Dallas young gun Tyler Seguin and Edmonton forward Jordan Eberle put Canada 2-0 ahead, before Julien Desrosiers narrowed their lead in the first period. Seguin added a power-play goal on 37 minutes, but France never gave up and leveled the score within 35 seconds of the 47th minute with goals by Yorick Treille and Damien Fleury. Eberle then scored the winner in a power play 50 minutes into the game as Canada outshot France 43-21. In a clash of minnows in Group A played in Prague, Latvia needed only 18 shots to beat Austria 2-1 in overtime, while Sweden beat Switzerland 2-1 in overtime with a 64th-minute goal by young Nashville forward Filip Forsberg. Canada lead Group A ahead of Sweden, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. In Group B played in Ostrava, Russia swept Belarus 7-0, outshooting their rivals 32-13, Finland beat Slovakia 3-0 and Denmark claimed their first win of the tournament by beating Norway 4-1. Russia, Finland and the US sit at the top of Group B with 12 points each ahead of Belarus with 10.
SOCCER
Pele released from hospital
Brazilian legend Pele was released from hospital on Saturday following prostate surgery, doctors said, after his latest health scare. The Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo released a picture of a smiling Pele wearing sportswear and waving at the camera with his partner, Marcia Cibele Aoki. The 74-year-old, who was treated at the same facility last year for a severe urinary tract infection, was discharged at 6:30pm, it said. The only player to win three FIFA World Cup titles underwent a surgical procedure known as a transurethral resection of the prostate.
SOCCER
Fan shot dead in S Africa
A supporter was shot dead during a confrontation with South African police as thousands of fans invaded the pitch at the end of the Kaizer Chiefs’ 2-0 victory over Chippa United that closed the champions’ league campaign on Saturday. The incident at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is being investigated, but police spokesman Johan Rheeder was quoted as saying the unidentified man had tried to disarm an officer and died at the scene. “The man tried to take the policeman’s gun, and during the scuffle the gun went off and the person was shot,” Rheeder told the Herald newspaper.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier