CRICKET
Cook scores double ton
Alastair Cook’s double century put England in a commanding position against the West Indies before James Anderson struck in the inaugural day/night Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, on Friday. The West Indies were 44-1 in reply to England’s imposing 514-8 declared, a deficit of 470 runs, when rain ended the second day’s play early in the third session. Cook’s 243, his fourth Test double century, was the cornerstone of England’s total and the former captain’s dismissal prompted current skipper Joe Root to declare. That left the West Indies with a tricky nine overs to bat in twilight before the tea interval. That was time enough for opener Kraigg Brathwaite to be caught behind for a duck off Anderson.
SOCCER
Brazilian indictments sought
The Brazilian Federal Police have called for the indictment of 21 people, including former Brasilia governors Agnelo Queiroz and Jose Roberto Arruda, for allegedly overcharging 559 million reais (US$178 million) in the renovation of a stadium used in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Mane Garrincha Stadium in the capital was to cost about 600 million reais, but ended up costing closer to 1.575 billion reais, officials said. It was built by a consortium led by construction firm Andrade Gutierrez.
GOLF
Ormsby leads in Fiji
Australia’s Wade Ormsby tore up the back nine with five birdies to take a one-stroke lead at the end of the third round of the Fiji International in Sigatoka yesterday. The 37-year-old’s six-under-par 66 put him on 10-under 206 for the tournament at the Natadola Bay Golf Course, a shot clear of compatriot Jason Norris (70). Another Australian, James Marchesani, shot a 67 to stand alone in third place on eight-under at a tournament cosanctioned by the European, Asian and Australasian Tours. Taiwan’s Hung Chien-yao followed up scores of 71 and 74 in the first two rounds with a 73 to be in a share of 57th on 218 overall, while Lu Wei-chih missed the cut on Friday with scores of 73 and 74.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Storm seal minor title
The Melbourne Storm clinched first place in the National Rugby League (NRL) with two regular-season rounds remaining. The Storm ended Newcastle’s three-match winning streak yesterday with a 44-12 win over the Knights, giving Melbourne 40 competition points for the season with 18 wins in 22 matches. Second-placed Brisbane, who kept pace by beating St George Illawarra 24-12 on Friday, have 34.
SEA GAMES
Schooling apologizes
Singaporean Olympic champion Joseph Schooling has apologized to Malaysians for saying he was going to teach their swimmers a lesson at the South East Asian (SEA) Games, which opened in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The 22-year-old, who won the city-state’s first Olympic gold in the 100m butterfly in Rio de Janeiro last year, told local media it would be “nice to go to Malaysia’s backyard and teach them a thing or two.” However, on his arrival in the Malaysian capital yesterday, Schooling said: “If I offended anyone, I do apologize ... that wasn’t my intention. I’m really sorry for my comments and I definitely didn’t mean it that way.” Schooling won nine gold medals at the last SEA Games in Singapore two years ago but will race in fewer events this year.
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