TENNIS
Tsurenko wins Istanbul Cup
Lesia Tsurenko won her first WTA Tour title on Sunday after beating Urszula Radwanska in the final of the Istanbul Cup. The Ukrainian saw off her Polish counterpart 7-5, 6-1. “When I saw the draw it looked tough, but I believe that if you go to a tournament you can win it,” Tsurenko said. “You have to think like this. I’m so happy I could win here and show good tennis. That’s my goal, getting good results.” Tsurenko saved three set points on serve in the opening set, before winning nine of the next 10 games to secure her maiden title in 1 hour, 32 minutes. It was the second time Radwanska had been defeated in a WTA Tour final after her loss in Rosmalen three years ago.
CRICKET
Ashes one-dayer rained off
The third and final Women’s Ashes one-day international between England and Australia was rained off in Worcester, England, on Sunday with the game rescheduled to yesterday. The series is locked at 1-1 before the teams go on to contest a Test match in Canterbury next month, followed by a three-match Twenty20 series. England won the first match by four wickets in Taunton, before Australia hit back in Bristol with a 63-run victory.
RUGBY UNION
Wallabies get new venues
Australia said it would inaugurate two new home Test venues during next season. The Wallabies are to play Argentina in a Rugby Championship match on Sept. 17 at Perth’s 20,500-seat nib Stadium, home to the Western Force. Australia have played their previous 14 Test matches in Perth at the Subiaco Oval, an oval designed for Australian Rules football. The new Perth venue is also to host a Rugby Championship match between Australia and South Africa in 2017. Melbourne’s AAMI Park is to host one of Australia’s three Tests against England next season, becoming a Test venue for the first time.
SOCCER
United sign Sergio Romero
Manchester United have signed Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero to a three-year deal on a free transfer. The 28-year-old previously played for United manager Louis van Gaal at Dutch club AZ and will provide competition for Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea, while Victor Valdes is set to be sold after refusing to play in the reserves last season. Van Gaal described Romero as “a very talented goalkeeper.” “He was a young
’keeper during my time at AZ and I am delighted he is joining Manchester United,” he said. “To play for the biggest club in the world is a dream come true for me,” Romero told United’s Web site. “Louis van Gaal is a fantastic manager and I cannot wait to get started on this new and exciting challenge in my career.” Romero has played 62 matches for Argentina and played in last year’s FIFA World Cup final against Germany.
MOTORCYCLING
Stoner suffers broken bones
Former world MotoGP champion Casey Stoner suffered a broken shoulder and fractured leg at the Suzuka 8 Hours Race on Sunday. It was the Australian’s first competitive race in almost three years, but it ended in disaster when he came off his Honda on a hairpin. “Well my #Suzuka8H ended spectacularly! Stuck Throttle = Broken Scapula + Fractured Tibia and a few more tweaks. Sucks!” tweeted Stoner from his hospital bed. The Yamaha team of Bradley Smith, Pol Espargaro and Katsuyuki Nakasuga went on to win the race.
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