CYCLING
Froome claims 11th stage
Chris Froome on Wednesday won a thrilling uphill duel against climbing rival Nairo Quintana by a bike length to win the 11th stage of the Vuelta a Espana. Quintana defended his race lead and moved 54 seconds ahead of Froome, who overtook Alejandro Valverde to move second overall. Valverde finished 6 seconds behind, dropping to third overall and 1 minute, 5 seconds behind Quintana. Froome and Quintana, who have had some memorable climbing contests on the Tour, tested one another on the category 1 ascent, trading attacks before Froome edged the Colombian at the line. “I have some special memories from 2011 here, but today, to add to that, is just an incredible feeling,” Froome said. Froome pumped his fist in the air after completing the 168.6km ride starting in Colunga near the Atlantic coast in 3 hours, 44 minutes, 47 seconds.
OLYMPICS
Australians not sanctioned
Australian Olympians Natalie Cook and Lachlan Milne will not be sanctioned for altering accreditations to allow fellow Australian athletes into the nation’s basketball semi-final against Serbia at the Rio de Janeiro Games. Cook, a former beach volleyballer, and Milne, a ex-canoeist, were working with the Australian team as athlete services volunteers. They placed stickers on athletes’ accreditations to allow them access to the game, an investigation commissioned by the Australian Olympic Committee found. In a statement yesterday, the committee said Milne also gave non-scanned tickets to athletes outside the stadium to let them inside. Nine athletes were held by police and later fined by a Brazilian court. George said the behavior of Cook and Milne had damaged the reputation of the committee and Olympic team, but the two were remorseful for having put the team in an embarrassing position. The committee said it would seek to have the records of the nine athletes’ criminal proceedings expunged.
OLYMPICS
Panel clears Tokyo payment
An independent panel commissioned by the Japanese Olympic Committee has found nothing illegal in a payment made to a Singapore firm prior to Tokyo winning the right to host the 2020 Summer Games. A report by the panel released yesterday said that a S$2.8 million (US$2 million) payment to the Singaporean consultancy Black Tidings was legitimate. The panel said that Tokyo bid executives had no knowledge of the link between the head of Black Tidings, Ian Tan Tong Han, and the son of former International Association of Athletics Federations president Lamine Diack, who is facing corruption charges in France.
CRICKET
Walsh to coach Bangladesh
West Indies great Courtney Walsh is to take over as bowling coach of the Bangladesh cricket team on a three-year contract. Walsh said Bangladesh has a “seriously talented bunch of players” and he is looking forward to working with head coach Chandika Hathurusingha. “Obviously the West Indies is my home, but the chance to go in a new direction in coaching at the international level with a talented group, was one I couldn’t let that opportunity pass,” he 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
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