GOLF
Henderson leads by one
Brooke Henderson on Thursday shot an eight-under 63 to top the star-packed leaderboard in the Meijer LPGA Classic. The 19-year-old Canadian eagled the par-five eighth hole and had six birdies at Blythefield in her lowest round of the season. “It’s beautiful here,” Henderson said. “I feel like this course suits my game really well.” Fellow major champions Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis and Feng Shanshan were a stroke back, along with Jennifer Ha, Giulia Molinaro and Holly Clyburn. Among Taiwanese, three shot two-under 69 to be among 28 in 38th — Chien Pei-yun, Hsu Wei-ling and Min Lee — while Yani Tseng and Cheng Ssu-chia shot 71 and 75 respectively.
SOCCER
Jeonbuk scout found dead
The former Jeonbuk Motors scout at the center of a bribery scandal last year has been found dead at the team’s home stadium in Jeonju, South Korea,, the club said yesterday. Jeonbuk were docked nine points and fined 100 million won (US$88,067) by the K League’s disciplinary committee for payments the scout made to referees in 2013. They were later barred from defending their Asian Champions League crown because of the scandal. An official at the club told reporters by telephone that the scout had been found dead at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in North Jeolla Province early yesterday. Yonhap news agency quoted police as saying he had been found hanged. In September last year, the scout was sentenced to a six-month suspended jail term by Busan District Court after bribing two referees with a total of 5 million won.
SOCCER
Turin stampede claims life
A woman left in a coma after a crowd stampeded in Turin, Italy, at a screening of the Champions League final on June 3 died overnight, the hospital where she was being treated said yesterday. The patient, identified as Erika, a 38-year-old local woman who had gone to watch the match with her boyfriend, was among more than 1,500 people injured in the incident. There were about 30,000 people in San Carlo square at the time, who had gathered to watch home favorites Juventus play Real Madrid in Cardiff. The stampede was apparently triggered by fireworks that were detonated as the match drew to a close. Erika was crushed against a wall, and the compression of her rib cage caused a heart attack that led to brain damage, reports said.
BOXING
Russian goads opponent
Russian Sergey Kovalev on Thursday made his point then stormed off the podium as he butted heads with champion Andre Ward of the US in the final news conference before their world title rematch today. There appears to be genuine dislike between the undefeated Ward and challenger Kovalev, who is seeking to regain his three world titles when he faces Ward in Las Vegas. The 34-year-old Kovalev amped up US-Russian boxing tensions by taunting Ward and then walking off the stage. “I already said enough and I will prove it June 17. And you get prepared,” Kovalev said, turning and pointing his finger directly at Ward before leaving by the back door. Ward, who was sitting in his assigned seat on the podium, immediately shot back: “Turn my microphone on. Don’t you point your finger at me.” The Russian sent Ward to the canvas in their first fight in November, but lost on points.
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