CRICKET
Mustafizur gets Test call-up
Bangladesh yesterday rewarded young left-arm paceman Mustafizur Rahman for an outstanding one-day debut by including him for next week’s first Test against South Africa. The 19-year-old has claimed 16 wickets in his first five matches during which he steered the Tigers to a 2-1 win over former world champions India at home last month. Mustafizur is the only new face in the 14-man squad announced for the first of two Tests against the Proteas starting in Chittagong on Tuesday next week. “He [Mustafizur] has already shown what he is capable of. He is probably the brightest find for us in recent times,” chief selector Faruque Ahmed told reporters. “He has been playing in all formats this season and we are confident he will adjust quickly to the demands of Test cricket.” Faruque said that Mahmudullah’s return from injury would boost the hosts. “Mahmudullah’s return adds depth in the batting order and some vital experience. His off-spin can also be effective,” he said.
SOCCER
NZ to appeal disqualification
New Zealand Football said it would appeal the decision of the Oceania Football Confederation to disqualify its under-23 team from the regional Olympic qualifying tournament for fielding an ineligible player. The Oceania disciplinary committee ruled on Sunday that New Zealand should be ejected from the final in Papua New Guinea for playing an ineligible player in a 2-0 semi-final win over Vanuatu. Vanuatu were awarded the match and went on to play Fiji in Sunday’s final, losing 4-3 on penalties. Fiji are to represent the Oceania region at next year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero. New Zealand Football said yesterday it would appeal the ruling that found South Africa-born defender Deklan Wynne was not eligible to play for New Zealand in the semi-final.
SOCCER
Schneiderlin to join United
Manchester United’s transfer splurge looked set to intensify on Sunday following media reports that Southampton’s France midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin had undergone a medical with the Old Trafford club. Schneiderlin, 25, was playing in the English third tier with Southampton only five years ago, but has impressed in the English Premier League and was in France’s World Cup squad last year. Louis van Gaal’s team, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season, are also looking at a part swap deal involving Brazilian rightback Rafael and SL Benfica’s long-coveted Argentina winger Nicolas Gaitan. “Benfica and Manchester United are in negotiations over Gaitan and one offer includes Rafael to join Benfica,” Cassiano Pereira, Rafael’s agent, told Portuguese newspaper Record. One man seemingly definitely on his way out of Old Trafford is injury-prone striker Robin van Persie, who took to social media on Sunday to chronicle his journey to Turkey, where he was poised to sign a deal with Fenerbahce.
TENNIS
Hamilton misses final
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton broke Wimbledon’s Royal Box dress code and missed watching Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in the men’s singles final on Sunday. Hamilton, who was photographed wearing a bright floral shirt and a hat, but no jacket or tie, was not allowed to take his place on Centre Court. “Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding regarding dress code, Lewis is very disappointed to have missed the men’s final,” Hamilton’s spokesperson said in a statement.
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