TENNIS
Kyrgios backs out of Games
Nick Kyrgios decided he does not want to represent Australia at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, yesterday citing “unfair and unjust treatment” by national Olympic officials as his reasons for withdrawing from selection consideration. Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic, who also withdrew from August’s Olympic event, were placed on notice by Australian team chef de mission Kitty Chiller last month after a number of behavioral issues on and off the court. It means the country’s two highest-ranked male tennis players would not be competing for Australia. Kyrgios, who earlier joked about Chiller’s threat on social media, issued a statement saying that, although he still had the backing of Tennis Australia and would have been nominated for Rio, “it’s very clear to me that the Australian Olympic Committee [AOC] has other plans. AOC’s unfair and unjust treatment of me over the last four weeks, as well as the organization’s crystal-clear position on whether they want me to be a part of the Australian Olympic team, has solidified my final decision,” Kyrgios said.
RUGBY UNION
Deal to keep Force in Perth
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) yesterday announced a deal that would keep struggling Western Force in Perth following speculation about the fate of the Super Rugby club. Under the deal, the club’s players and professional staff are to become employees of the ARU as the governing body integrates Western Force’s professional rugby program into its high-performance unit. The agreement comes after weeks of talks between the ARU and the Western Australia Rugby Union (RugbyWA) over financial problems stemming from poor results, and follows calls for the team to be moved from the western city to Australian rugby’s east coast heartland. Under the alliance, the RugbyWA board would continue to be responsible for the community game in Western Australia.
SOCCER
Rooster owner to ignore ban
Balthazar the rooster, much-loved in France for his emblematic appearances at national sporting events, has been banned from the upcoming Euro 2016 soccer championships, but owner Clement Tomaszewski said he would ignore the ban. “You will not be allowed to enter the stadiums during UEFA Euro 2016 with your cockerel Balthazar,” European soccer’s governing body wrote in a letter to Tomaszewski. “As nice as it is, the presence of your cockerel would put you in an awkward position vis-a-vis the security teams,” the official letter said, read out to reporters on Thursday by Tomaszewski in a very annoyed tone. He was warned that he would be thrown out if he is found breaching the stadium ban on live animals. “I am 68 years old, this is my sixth and last Euros,” he said.
SOCCER
Mourinho to voice pope
Jose Mourinho always said he was a “special one” and now, after fulfilling his dream of becoming Manchester United manager, he is turning his hand to films. The Portuguese is to lend his voice to the character of Pope Francis in an animated film due for release next year for the centenary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal. Mourinho is to be the voice of the Argentine pontiff in Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian — “the languages of the countries where he [Mourinho] has already been a champion,” Portuguese production company Imaginew said. The use of Mourinho in the animated film “has already received the approval of the Vatican,” the production company said.
TENNIS
Konjuh cruises in Croatia
Ana Konjuh cruised into the quarter-finals at the inaugural Bol Open 125K with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Turkey’s Ipek Soylu. Awaiting Konjuh in the quarters was fellow Croat Tereza Mrdeza, who beat Belgium’s Ysaline Bonaventure, 6-3, 6-3. Others to advance were Mandy Minella, who beat Varvara Lepchenko of the US 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, Marina Erakovic, Stefanie Voegele, Kristina Kucova, Polona Hercog and Nao Hibino.
GOLF
Westwood shoots 68
European Ryder Cup stalwarts Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood had contrasting fortunes in the opening round of the Nordea Masters at the Bro Hof Slott Golf Club on Thursday. Swede Stenson, the world No. 6, was down in a share of 63rd position after carding a level-par 72, while Westwood was one stroke off the lead held by six players after shooting a 68. Westwood, who has won the event three times, mixed six birdies with two bogeys. Fellow Britons Marc Warren, Andrew Johnston and Scott Henry led the way on 67 with Florian Fritsch of Germany and French pair Clement Berardo and Sebastien Gros.
SOCCER
Barca to keep Neymar
Barcelona said Neymar is to renew his contract with the La Liga champions, while Dani Alves is leaving after winning 23 titles in eight years. Barcelona director Robert Fernandez put an end to speculation about a possible departure of Neymar, saying on Thursday that the Brazil striker was close to signing a new contract and would “stay for a long time.” Fernandez said defender Alves made a “personal decision” to leave and the club would respect it. Barcelona said 20-year-old forward Sandro was leaving, while goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen would remain with the club for next season.
SOCCER
Luiz Gustavo withdraws
Brazil’s troubled build-up to the Copa America Centenario on Thursday hit another snag when midfielder Luiz Gustavo became the sixth player to withdraw from the squad, citing “personal problems.” It came a day after veteran striker Kaka pulled out with a hamstring injury before Brazil open their campaign against Ecuador in California today. “In a discussion with the technical staff of the Brazilian team, the [VfL] Wolfsburg player has asked to be released from the squad due to personal problems,” the Brazilian Confederation said in a statement, without giving more details.
KAYAKING
Pole quits Atlantic attempt
A Polish grandfather attempting his third solo trans-Atlantic kayak crossing has given up because of strong waves off the US coast. Adventurer Aleksander Doba paddled off from the tip of Manhattan on Sunday. His goal was to reach Portugal in time to celebrate his 70th birthday on land in September. However, waves off Sandy Hook in the state of New Jersey pushed Doba ashore, he said on Facebook yesterday. Doba reached shore safely with his kayak, but it was too severely damaged to go out again, his land-based team said. He will try again next year, it said. A star at home, gray-bearded Doba gained global attention when he was named a National Geographic adventurer of the year last year. At that point, the retired engineer — also an avid rock-climber, parachutist, glider pilot, sailor and yacht skipper — had already had two solo Atlantic kayak crossings under his belt.
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