SOCCER
Albion sign Rondon
English Premier League side West Bromwich Albion on Monday said they had signed striker Salomon Rondon for a club-record deal “worth around £12 million” (US$19 million). Venezuela international Rondon has joined the Baggies on a four-year deal from Russian side Zenit St Petersburg. The fee surpasses the £10 million that Albion paid for Brown Ideye before the start of last season. “I am very happy to be here,” Rondon told Albion’s Web site. “This is a new opportunity in my career. The club showed a lot of interest in me. That’s what is important for a player. There are expectations of me. I can’t wait to be with the other players and to play.” Rondon, who has also played for Malaga and Rubin Kazan, caught the eye of Albion manager Tony Pulis after scoring 20 goals in 37 games for Zenit last season. “He’s got a fantastic goalscoring record in some of the top leagues in Europe and for his country,” Pulis said. “We hope he hits the ground running, of course, but understand it might take him time to settle. He’s 25 years of age and still to fulfil his full potential, but we feel with age on his side and the prices English clubs are asking for their players, it’s a deal worth doing. He comes highly recommended. I have spoken to [Manchester City manager] Manuel [Pellegrini] and AVB [Zenit manager Andre Villas-Boas], who have worked with him, and they were full of praise for the lad. We are looking forward to working with him.”
FOOTBALL
Suit against Galette dropped
The lawyer for Washington Redskins linebacker Junior Galette says a civil suit against the player has been dismissed. Galette was arrested in January in Louisiana after an alleged domestic dispute with a woman. Charges were dropped, but the episode remains under review by the league. The NFL also is reviewing a video that shows a man resembling Galette in a fight on a beach. Attorney Ralph Whalen says in a statement the woman’s civil suit was “frivolous” and the criminal case “meritless.” He says the civil suit was filed “only after we flatly rejected her ex-lawyer’s shakedown to pay her US$2 million” to not file the suit. Galette was signed by the Redskins on July 31, less than a week after he was cut by the Saints.
CYCLING
Froome to ride Vuelta
Tour de France winner Chris Froome is to ride in this year’s edition of the Vuelta a Espana, set to start in less than two weeks. Race organizers announced on Monday that Froome will be on Sky’s team for the three-week grand tour. Froome, a two-time Tour winner, has finished the Vuelta in second place twice, in 2011 and last year. The British rider will join Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali as the favorites for the overall victory. Alberto Contador will not attempt to defend his title from last year. The Vuelta begins on Aug. 22 in Puerto Banus on the southern coast.
CYCLING
Viviani wins Eneco stage 1
Elia Viviani sprinted to victory on the opening stage of the Eneco Tour following a 183.5km ride around Bolsward in the Netherlands on Monday. The Italian Team Sky sprinter edged out Dutchmen Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) and Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC Racing), while Tour de France sprint star Andre Greipel could manage only fourth after launching his dash for the line too early. Yesterday’s second of seven stages is a 180km ride around Breda, also in the Netherlands. The Eneco Tour finishes on Sunday in Geraardsbergen in Belgium.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with