SOCCER
S Sudan debut rained out
Torrential rain spoilt the World Cup debut of South Sudan in Juba on Wednesday with play abandoned early in the first half after they leveled at 1-1 against Mauritania. Officials hoped to resume play yesterday morning. South Sudanese supporters last month celebrated a first victory for the national soccer team — 1-0 at home to Equatorial Guinea in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. That success raised hopes that their World Cup debut, in the first leg of a first-round eliminator against rivals 55 places higher on the world rankings, could bring more success. However, a capacity crowd were silenced after just three minutes when Boubacar Bagili scored for the Mauritanians. The gloom lasted only two minutes, though, before Dominic Abui Pretino equalized, sparking wild celebrations as the weather worsened. The match officials abandoned play soon after. Tanzania beat Malawi 2-0 in Dar es Salaam, Burundi edged the Seychelles 1-0 in Roche Caiman and Comoros and Lesotho drew 0-0 in Moroni in other first legs. Elsewhere, Kenya beat Mauritius 5-2.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Blair, Luke to captain NZ
The New Zealand Rugby League says Adam Blair and Issac Luke will share the captaincy of the national team on their three-Test tour of England starting this month. New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney yesterday named the pair as replacements for regular skipper Simon Mannering, who was ruled out of the tour with a stomach complaint earlier this week. Kearney’s 23-man squad includes six newcomers in utility backs Jordan Kahu and Tuimoala Lolohea, winger Curtis Rona, hooker Kodi Nikorima and forwards Isaac Liu and Sio Siua Taukeiaho. As well as Mannering, New Zealand are without halves duo Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran, and injured utility back Thomas Leuluai. New Zealand are to play England in Hull on Nov. 1, London on Nov. 8 and Wigan on Nov. 15.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Bird cleared of drug charges
Australian rugby league international Greg Bird has been cleared of drug charges over his alleged involvement in a cocaine supply ring. The Gold Coast Magistrate Court yesterday dismissed charges against Bird and former Gold Coast teammate Ashley Harrison, citing lack of evidence. Another Titans player, Beau Falloon, had his case on the same charges dismissed on Wednesday. The charges arose from an investigation last year that implicated present and past National Rugby League players. Karmichael Hunt, a former Australian rugby league international now with the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby, pled guilty to possessing cocaine. He was suspended for six weeks, ordered to undergo drug rehabilitation and fined A$30,000 (US$23,400).
CYCLING
Armstrong film sparks suit
Lance Armstrong’s former physician has reportedly filed a lawsuit aiming to halt distribution in Italy of a movie about the disgraced cyclist. The ANSA news agency reports that lawyers for Michele Ferrari have requested that the The Program — due to be released in Italy yesterday — be sequestered from distributor Videa and are seeking damages. Lawyers say Ferrari never administered EPO to Armstrong. Ferrari’s lawyer Dario Bolognesi did not immediately answer calls. Ferrari is played by French actor Guillaume Canet in the film, which is directed by Stephen Frears. Ferrari was banned for life for helping athletes use performance enhancing drugs by both the Italian Cycling Federation and the US Anti-Doping Association.
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