FOOTBALL
Raider charged with assault
An Oakland Raiders cornerback who prosecutors said beat and stomped on his sister’s boyfriend was on Thursday charged with assault and battery. Sean Lee Smith, a 30-year-old NFL defensive player, could face up to seven years in prison if he is convicted on all three felony counts against him, which include allegations of causing great bodily injury. Smith is accused of attacking his sister’s boyfriend, Christopher Woods, on the morning of July 4 in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, a criminal complaint read. The court documents do not say what prompted the alleged violence.
GOLF
Hend shares lead in Fiji
Scott Hend yesterday shot a six-under 66 to move into a four-way share of the lead after the second round of the Fiji International. The 44-year-old Australian was level with first-round leader Daniel Pearce of New Zealand, who shot 71, and Australia’s Jason Norris and Malaysia’s Gavin Green (69 each), all on seven-under 137 on the ocean-side Natadola Bay course. The leading group had a two-stroke advantage over Australians Adam Bland, David McKenzie and Peter Wilson, who shot 71s. Taiwan’s Hung Chien-yao finished the round tied for 49th on a one-over 145 total.
OLYMPICS
Perkins to represent Russia
Cyclist Shane Perkins has been given the green light to attain citizenship by Russian President Vladimir Putin, paving the way for the two-time world champion to represent his new country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Melbourne-born 30-year-old won a sprint bronze for Australia at the 2012 London Olympics, but missed out on selection for last year’s Rio Games. “The president resolved to grant Russian Federation citizenship to Shane Alan Perkins,” the Kremlin said in a statement on its Web site. Perkins posted a picture of himself on Twitter wearing Russian colors on his bike and wrote: “I’m the most excited guy in the world right now! I can make my dreams come true!” Perkins, a good friend of Russian reigning world champion sprinter Denis Dmitriev, who took bronze in the sprint at Rio, began seriously considering defecting less than a year ago, frustrated at being shut out of Australia’s high-performance program, he told local media.
RUGBY UNION
Gard cleared in ‘bug-gate’
Adrian Gard, the security consultant at the center of the All Blacks bugging case, yesterday had his public mischief charge dismissed by a Sydney court, state media reported. Gard was accused of making a false statement to police about a listening device found in the All Blacks’ hotel meeting room before a match in August last year against Australia in Sydney. The magistrate was unable to rule out that someone else could have planted the bug, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported. Gard was found guilty of a second charge relating to carrying out a security operation without a license. The matter, dubbed “bug-gate” by the media, caused much friction between the Australian and New Zealand Rugby unions when it was revealed last year. All Blacks management decided not to alert police for five days after the bug was found, waiting until the morning of the Test before instructing hotel staff to involve them.
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