NBA
Wade’s cousin shot dead
NBA star Dwyane Wade’s cousin was shot and killed in Chicago while pushing her baby in a stroller near a school where she intended to register her children. Wade lamented on Twitter what he called another “act of senseless gun violence.” Nykea Aldridge, 32, had recently relocated to an area on the city’s South Side, her family said. On Friday, Aldridge was near the school, which is close to the University of Chicago, when two males walked up and fired shots at a third man, but hit Aldridge in the head and arm. She was not the intended target, police said. Police are questioning witnesses in the shooting, but had no suspects in custody. Wade, a native of Chicago who signed with the Chicago Bulls in July after 13 years with the Miami Heat, posted on Twitter: “My cousin was killed today in Chicago. Another act of senseless gun violence. 4 kids lost their mom for NO REASON. Unreal. #EnoughISEnough.”
NFL
Dispensary visit ‘not good’
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has voiced dismay after the emergence of a video appearing to show rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott visiting a marijuana dispensary ahead of his team’s pre-season loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Elliott, picked fourth overall by the Cowboys in the 2016 draft, was caught on film inside the store in Seattle, but did not make any purchases. Marijuana use is strictly prohibited under NFL rules, but is legal in Washington state. Jones, however, was unimpressed at seeing the Cowboys’ star signing visiting the store. “Well, I think that in and of itself the reason we are talking about is in a way part of the learning process,” Jones said. “But it’s not good. It’s just not good. It’s just not good.” Elliott, 21, signed a four-year deal with the Cowboys in May worth an estimated US$24.9 million, with a US$16.3 million signing bonus.
CRICKET
Anderson, Broad ruled out
England’s new-ball Test duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad will both miss the final few weeks of the domestic season through injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said yesterday. However, they are expected to be fit for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh. Anderson, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker, requires what an ECB statement said was “ongoing rehabilitation” of his right shoulder and will not now feature again for Lancashire in the remainder of the county season. Broad, who last played for Nottinghamshire in their Twenty20 Blast semi-final defeat by Northamptonshire at Edgbaston on Saturday last week, is recovering from an ankle problem. Both bowlers are expected to be fit for the Test leg of England’s tour of Bangladesh, which gets underway in October.
OLYMPICS
Russia to appeal ban
Russia will appeal in the Swiss Federal Court tomorrow against the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision to uphold a blanket ban on their athletes from competing in next month’s Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. “The appeal has been launched in the Swiss court,” the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) president Vladimir Lukin as saying on Friday. Earlier this week the Lausanne-based CAS, sport’s highest tribunal, rejected an RPC appeal against the suspension that was handed out by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) because of a state-sponsored sports doping program. The Federal Court can only overturn the CAS ruling on the basis of a procedural mistake.
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