CRICKET
Crossbow bolt stops game
The Oval cricket stadium in London was evacuated on Thursday after a crossbow bolt was fired onto the pitch during a match. About 2,500 spectators were urged to take cover and armed police arrived shortly afterward, a BBC reporter said. Police said there were no reported injuries and it was not being treated as a terrorist incident at this stage. A BBC radio sports commentator said the bolt appeared to have flown over the heads of some of the players and landed close to two umpires in the center of the field. “At this early stage it is believed that the object came from outside of the ground,” London’s Metropolitan police force said.
HORSE RACING
Derby to have Europe entry
Eager to increase international interest in the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs is giving Europe a chance to have a potential entry next year, as well as adding a prep race in the midwest as part of its points series that decides the 20-horse field. The track on Thursday said it is creating a series of seven races in Europe separate from the 36-race Road to the Kentucky Derby series in the US. One starting spot is to be awarded to the Europe-based horse that accumulates the most points and accepts an invitation to run in the May 5 race.
BASEBALL
Astros nab Verlander
The Houston Astros on Thursday made a major post-season push at the deadline by acquiring decorated pitcher Justin Verlander in a trade with the Detroit Tigers. Verlander needed to be traded before yesterday to be eligible to pitch in the playoffs with a new team and the American League-leading Astros made it happen just in time. Houston sent right-handed pitcher Franklin Perez, outfielder Daz Cameron and catcher Jake Rogers to Detroit in exchange for the 34-year-old Verlander. “I think he’ll add a dimension we don’t have,” Astros owner Jim Crane told MLB.com.
OLYMPICS
Tancred cleared of bullying
Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) media head Mike Tancred has been cleared of allegations of bullying after an independent investigation, the organization said yesterday. Tancred stood down from his role in April after allegations of bullying were made by former AOC chief executive Fiona de Jong. An independent committee investigated complaints from three former AOC staffers and a member of the public who had objected to Tancred’s conduct. The committee ruled that “none of the complaints has been made out on an objective basis,” the AOC said.
WORLD CUP
Paraguay enters bid for 2030
Paraguay has joined forces with Argentina and Uruguay in a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup finals, Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes said on Thursday. Although no official details were revealed, local reports said that Argentina would have six host cities or stadiums, while Uruguay and Paraguay would have three each. The bid was met with scorn by goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, the former national team captain famous for scoring penalties and free kicks, who called the bid “bread and circus” — a phrase used to refer to appeasement through distraction. “Paraguay doesn’t need a World Cup. It needs hospitals, schools, infrastructure,” 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
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