SOCCER
Bordeaux down Lorient 2-0
Girondins de Bordeaux reached the Coupe de la Ligue semi-finals by scoring in each half to beat Lorient 2-0 on Tuesday. Midfielder Jaroslav Plasil struck just before halftime with a deflected drive from the edge of the penalty area. The home side got its second goal soon after when Lorient defender Pape Abdou Paye failed to clear a corner and goalkeeper Florent Chaigneau pushed the ball into his own net trying to save it. Bordeaux ’keeper Cedric Carrasso made some fine saves, denying striker Benjamin Jeannot with his legs as Lorient poured forward. Bordeaux have won the Coupe de la Ligue three times, the last time in 2008-2009.
SOCCER
Brayan Jimenez arrested
Brayan Jimenez, the former president of the Guatemalan Football Federation, has been arrested and faces extradition to the US in connection with the FIFA corruption scandal. A Guatemalan police spokesman confirmed the arrest in the capital on Tuesday. Jimenez has been a fugitive for a month after Guatemala issued warrants for his arrest last month. He faces extradition to the US where he could face charges of money laundering and bribery. Hector Trujillo, the former secretary general of the federation, was arrested last month on racketeering charges and was extradited to the US.
RUGBY UNION
Corbisiero gets early release
England prop Alex Corbisiero, dogged by injuries in recent years, has left the Northampton Saints after being released from his contract early, the English club said on Tuesday. Corbisiero, who last month announced his intention to take a year away from rugby at the end of the season, last started a Test for England in 2012. He has not played for his country since August, when he came on for 18 minutes as a replacement against France in a World Cup warmup at Twickenham. He injured his back in that game and was ruled out for the World Cup. The 27-year-old then underwent knee surgery last month. “Alex has made a big contribution to the Saints, on and off the pitch, and we’ve all been frustrated that he has not been able to make a consistent run of appearances in the first team,” director of rugby Jim Mallinder said in a club statement. “We wish him success in whatever he decides to do in the future.” Loosehead prop Corbisiero has been capped 20 times by England and twice by the British and Irish Lions.
SNOOKER
O’Sullivan makes comeback
Five-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan narrowly overcame Mark Williams 6-5 as he returned to major tournament action in the first round of the Masters at London’s Alexandra Palace on Tuesday. O’Sullivan, 40, had taken time away from top-level snooker since losing to eventual champion Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals at last year’s World Championship in April. The Essex cueman led 2-0 and 4-2, but at 5-4 Williams leveled to take the match to a deciding frame, which O’Sullivan took with a break of 62 after his opponent failed to pot a plant. “Unless you are playing really well, it is difficult to win tournaments,” O’Sullivan said. “I should have lost that match today, really, but I got lucky. Mark will feel disappointed about losing it. I didn’t really feel nervous. When I was 4-2 down, I had nothing to lose and I loosened up a little.” O’Sullivan is slated to play either Mark Selby or Ricky Walden in the quarter-finals. “I missed a couple of tournaments due to problems with my back,” O’Sullivan said.
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