TENNIS
Gasparyan wins opener
Margarita Gasparyan of Russia rallied from a break down in the final set to beat Carina Witthoeft of Germany 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 on Monday on the opening day of the Generali Ladies. Gasparyan, who won her maiden WTA title in Baku in August, converted all six break points to set up a second-round match against last year’s finalist Camila Giorgi of Italy or Julia Goerges of Germany. Earlier, Anna-Lena Friedsam defeated Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3. The 118th-ranked German dropped her opening service game, but won 12 of the next 16 games, and faces either the top-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic or Andreea Mitu of Romania. Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium also advanced by beating Varvara Lepchenko of the US 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
GOLF
Australian Open field grows
Former winner Lee Westwood and The Open champion Darren Clarke have bolstered the field for next month’s Australian Open in Sydney, organizers said yesterday. England’s Westwood and Northern Ireland’s Clarke are to join defending champion and world No. 1 Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott for the Nov. 26 to Nov. 29 tournament at The Australian Golf Club. Westwood, 42, a former world No. 1, won the 1997 Australian Open at Melbourne’s Metropolitan Golf Club, while new European Ryder Cup captain Clarke, 47, won The Open at Royal St George’s in 2011. The Australian Open is the final event on OneAsia’s schedule this year.
OLYMPICS
Boules launches bid
The sport of boules has launched a bid to be included in the 2024 Olympics. The Bowls Sports World Confederation, which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee, is campaigning on behalf of three disciplines: French petanque, Boule Lyonnaise and Raffa, a version of the game popular in Italy. According to the international world games association, about 20 million people regularly play boules in France and Italy, and more than 2 million players are licensed in 150 other countries. Under new committee rules, Olympic host cities can propose the addition of one or more sports to their Games. Paris and Rome are among the five cities bidding for the 2024 Games, along with Los Angeles, Budapest and Hamburg.
UNITED STATES
Governor bans ‘Redskins’
Four California high schools are to be forced to change mascots after California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation making the state the first to bar public schools from using “Redskins” as a name for sports teams. It was one of three sports-related bills approved by Brown in the past week. He also signed a measure that bans players and coaches from using smokeless tobacco at professional baseball parks, and another that recognizes competitive cheerleading as a high-school sport. The mascot legislation signed on Sunday is to prevent public schools from using a term that is considered offensive toward Native Americans. The law, which is to go into effect in 2017, is unique to California. Native American groups have protested the name’s continued use amid their court fight with the NFL’s Washington Redskins. A US federal panel ruled last year that the team’s trademark should be canceled, but the team is challenging that decision in court. Washington owner Dan Snyder is facing unprecedented opposition from those who consider his team’s name a racial slur.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was