CANOEING
Suzuki banned for spiking
Japan’s anti-doping body has banned a top canoeist for eight years after he spiked a rival’s drink with a banned substance to boost his own chances of selection for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Japan Anti-Doping Agency slapped 32-year-old sprint canoeist Yasuhiro Suzuki with the eight-year ban, the Japan Canoe Federation announced yesterday, slamming his offense as “extremely evil.” Suzuki confessed to putting a banned muscle-boosting substance into the drink bottle of 25-year-old rival Seiji Komatsu during a domestic competition in September last year, the federation said. “Suzuki’s conduct is totally contrary to the spirit of sporting fair play,” it said in a statement, adding that it would consider expelling Suzuki permanently, as he has a history of sabotaging competitors, including by stealing their equipment. Suzuki admitted spiking the drink after receiving an intensive anti-doping lecture during a training camp, the federation said. “I was fretting. I did it as I thought he would overwhelm me. I didn’t expect he’d actually test positive,” Japan Broadcasting Corp quoted Suzuki as telling the federation. Komatsu won the race, but was later provisionally suspended after he tested positive to the drug, which he strenuously denied using. His suspension has now been lifted.
SOCCER
Murray leads Brighton to win
Substitute Glenn Murray on Monday grabbed Brighton & Hove Albion a 2-1, third-round FA Cup victory over Crystal Palace as video technology made its debut in England. It was the first time the Video Assistant Referee system had been used in English soccer for a one-off trial, but was never needed to overturn any decision by referee Andre Marriner at the American Express Community Stadium. However, there was some confusion over the winning goal in the 87th minute, as former Palace striker Murray bundled in the winner with his knee following a free-kick to score his seventh goal this term. Palace players protested to the officials after the game that the ball had touched Murray’s arm after his knee, but replays suggested the right decision had been made. Earlier, midfielder Dale Stephens gave the hosts a 25th-minute lead by rifling a shot through Wayne Hennessey at the Palace goalkeeper’s near post. Mali forward Bakary Sako, making just his fourth start of the season, hammered home a brilliant equalizer for Palace midway through the second period from long range to cap an excellent individual display. However, Murray came off the bench to secure the win for Brighton, who are to travel to Middlesbrough in the fourth round at the end of this month.
SOCCER
Espanyol defeat Malaga 1-0
RCD Espanyol on Monday scored early in the first half and held on to beat struggling Malaga 1-0 for their first away win of the La Liga season. Midfielder Sergi Darder scored six minutes into the match at Estadio La Rosaleda to spur Espanyol to the elusive victory in their 10th away match of the season. It was Espanyol’s second consecutive league triumph following a win over second-placed Atletico Madrid in their final game last year. The club from Barcelona reached 14th place in the 20-team standings, moving further away from the relegation zone. Malaga, who have lost three in a row, remained second-to-last on 11 points, the same as last-placed UD Las Palmas.
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