CRICKET
Eranga banned from bowling
Sri Lanka paceman Shaminda Eranga has been banned from bowling in international matches due to an illegal action, the International Cricket Council said on Sunday, just hours after he was taken to hospital to undergo tests on his heart. The 29-year-old reported feeling discomfort while batting during Sri Lanka’s one-day win over Ireland on Saturday. “He was OK and stable, and we’re awaiting the results,” a Sri Lanka Cricket spokesman said. Eranga’s action was reported during the second Test against England at Chester-le-Street last month and his action was found to be illegal after an independent assessment.
CRICKET
One-day match rained off
The seventh match of the tri-nation one-day international series between Australia and South Africa in Bridgetown, Barbados, was declared a no-result due to inclement weather, organizers said on Sunday. Heavy, persistent rain left a large damp area on the pitch which prevented any further play with South Africa at 8-0 after one over in the match at the Kensington Oval. Both teams took two points from the contest. South Africa remain top of the standings on 12 points followed by Australia on 11. Hosts the West Indies, on eight points, face Australia today at the same venue. The West Indies play South Africa in the final round-robin match on Friday. The final is due to take place on Sunday.
TENNIS
Keys wins in Birmingham
Madison Keys of the US powered to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Barbora Strycova in the Aegon Classic final in Birmingham, England, on Sunday, only the second grass-court title of her career. Strycova, who was playing her 18th set of the week after reaching both the singles and doubles finals, still had enough energy and tenacity to come close to turning the second set around. The Czech player appeared poised to get back into the match when she earned a break point in the eighth game of the second set, but Keys saved it with a series of well-controlled and well-placed forehand drives allowing the American to cruise to the title. “I am just going to focus on this — I am really happy. I will start focusing on Wimbledon tomorrow,” Keys said. Strycova and Karolina Pliskova beat Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) in the doubles final.
TENNIS
Garcia wins Mallorca Open
French sixth seed Caroline Garcia warmed up for Wimbledon by capturing the inaugural grass-court Mallorca Open title on Sunday with victory over Anastasija Sevastova. Garcia, ranked 39th in the world and the reigning French Open women’s doubles champion, sealed the first grass-court crown of her career with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Latvian world No. 82. It was the 22-year-old Garcia’s second tournament win this season after Strasbourg, France.
TENNIS
Wozniacki defeats Cornet
Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki earned her first win of a troubled pre-Wimbledon grass-court season on Sunday, beating Alize Cornet in the first round at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England. The Dane, who has only just returned after missing the clay season with an ankle injury, advanced 6-1, 6-3 in 80 minutes, helped by six double faults from Cornet, who lost her serve five times. France’s Kristina Mladenovic opened with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 victory over Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer, while Hungary’s Timea Babos beat Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
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