GOLF
Thai takes lead at Reignwood
Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn yesterday birdied the final four holes for an eight-under 65 and a one-stroke lead over Canada’s Brooke Henderson in the Reignwood LPGA Classic. In position to take the world No. 1 spot from Lydia Ko with a ninth-place finish or better, Jutanugarn had 10 birdies and two bogeys at Reignwood Pine Valley Golf Club in the first event in the six-tournament Asian Swing. The 20-year-old Thai player is No. 2 in the world now and leads the LPGA Tour with five victories, winning the Women’s British Open in July for her first major title. The fourth-ranked Henderson birdied three of the final four holes in a bogey-free round. The 19-year-old Canadian won the major KPMG Women’s PGA in June for the first of her two victories this season. Taiwan’s Min Lee carded a one-under 72, while Yani Tseng and Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung both hit one-over 74s.
RUGBY
Player let-off on assault
New Zealand prosecutors yesterday said they would appeal against a judge’s decision not to convict a teenage rugby star over a vicious assault because it could damage his sporting career. Losi Filipo’s defense did not dispute the facts of the unprovoked late-night attack on four people, including two women, in central Wellington last year. The teenager stamped on the head of one of the male victims as he lay prone on the ground, leaving the man unable to work for eight months. In sentencing, judge Bruce Davidson said such a serious attack would normally attract an 18-month jail term, but a conviction would hinder Filipo’s chances of playing professionally. “I have to ask myself, are the courts truly in the business of destroying people’s career prospects?” he asked. The New Zealand solicitor-general’s office said the judge’s decision had been reviewed and an appeal was being lodged.
CRICKET
Anderson, Wood ruled out
England bowlers James Anderson and Mark Wood have been ruled out of next month’s tour of Bangladesh due to injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board said yesterday. Anderson, England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker, has not played since the fourth Test loss to Pakistan last month because of a shoulder injury. Durham seamer Wood, 26, has been having treatment for an ankle injury. England play three one-day internationals (ODI) and two Tests on the tour, for which they left yesterday. The first Test begins in Chittagong on Oct. 20.
FOOTBALL
Football promoted in China
Former Denver Bronco and Indianapolis Colt quarterback Peyton Manning on Wednesday helped promote US football in China, meeting young aspiring players ahead of the launch of the country’s new league. Coaching at a quarterback clinic in Beijing, Manning said there was great potential for US football to succeed in China. “I think once people can learn the rules, learn of the strategies and game planning and mental and cerebral part of football — once they learn that and appreciate that, I think they would have more of an interest in the game,” he said. The inaugural season of the the China Arena Football League starts in Beijing tomorrow.
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