TENNIS
Donskoy beats Khachanov
Evgeny Donskoy on Monday saved two match points to beat Russian compatriot Karen Khachanov in the first round of the SkiStar Swedish Open. Eighth-seeded Donskoy defeated Khachanov 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. Sixth-seeded Aljaz Bedene of Britain overcame local wild card Isak Arvidsson 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), while Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis beat Jurgen Zopp 6-1, 6-7 (7/5), 6-1. Two-time champion David Ferrer and Joao Sousa, who reached the final two years ago, are the top two seeded players this year. Both had first-round byes, along with third-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas and fourth-seeded Marcel Granollers
OLYMPICS
Jamaica confirms Bolt
Usain Bolt is to get a chance to hone his Olympic track and field legacy, as he was named to the 59-member Jamaica team that is to compete at the Olympic Games in Rio next month. Bolt, who withdrew from the 100m final and sought a medical exemption from the 200m at the Jamaican Olympic Trials two weekends ago, was named on the provisional list submitted to the International Olympic Committee to contest the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relays in Rio. He seeks to become the first man to win three straight triple-triples after wins in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. The announcement was made on Monday afternoon at a news conference held by the Jamaica Olympic Association in Kingston, where all members of the Olympic team were announced. The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association’s selection rules allow for athletes ranked in the top three in the world to submit medical exemptions and miss the trials, but they must be able to prove their fitness at a later date to be named to the Olympic team. Bolt suffered a grade one hamstring tear on the first day of the four-day national championships. He then ran the semi-final of the 100m before withdrawing an hour before the final. He submitted a medical exemption for the rest of the championships, including the 200m. Bolt ran a season’s best 9.88 seconds in the 100m, but has yet to run a 200m race in competition. He is scheduled to run at the London Anniversary Games later this month.
CRICKET
West Indies squad named
The Jason Holder-captained West Indies squad for the upcoming four Test series against India was released on Monday, with Denesh Ramdin a frustrated absentee. Ramdin took to social media to express his displeasure at being overlooked for the series, with the first Test starting in Antigua on July 21. The West Indies wicketkeeper was served with an unspecified punishment for venting his frustration in public, the West Indies Cricket board announced in a statement. Ramdin was a member of the one-day international squad, which finished runners-up in the tri-nation series with winners Australia and South Africa. Also missing was 32-year-old right-arm fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who has retired from this format of the game. Taylor played 46 Tests for the West Indies, taking 130 wickets. His best bowling figures are 6-47 against Australia at Sabina Park last year. He has had four five-Test wicket hauls in his 13-year Test career. His top score was 106, batting at No. 8 against New Zealand in 2008. He debuted against Sri Lanka in 2003 and played his last international Test series against Australia in January.
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
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