TENNIS
No Williams, no problem
The US aim to prove again that they can thrive without Serena and Venus Williams when they tackle France for a place in a second consecutive Fed Cup final this weekend. Last year, the US won the tournament for the 18th time with a nerve-racking 3-2 victory over Belarus, which was only decided in the last doubles rubber when CoCo Vandeweghe and Shelby Rogers claimed the winning point. The Williams sisters did not feature in that final in Minsk, but they returned to national colors in February in a first-round victory over the Netherlands, which set-up this weekend’s clash in France. “I’m very confident that we can make it to another final,” Vandeweghe said ahead of the tie on indoor clay at Aix-en-Provence.
SOCCER
Russell has first MLS hat-trick
Johnny Russell had his first career MLS hat-trick and Sporting Kansas City routed the nine-man Vancouver Whitecaps 6-0 on Friday night for the largest margin of victory in Children’s Mercy Park history. Kansas City (5-1-2) is undefeated in its last seven matches — with five victories. Vancouver (3-4-1), who were without forward Kei Kamara, had their third straight loss. Russell scored two goals in the opening 16 minutes. He one-touched a cross with his right foot to open the scoring in the 10th minute, and took five touches along the left side to send in a deflected shot for a 2-0 lead. In the 48th minute, Russell played a short corner kick for a give-and-go and chipped it over Marinovic from the end line to make it 4-0.
SOCCER
Reims return to Ligue 1 play
Reims on Friday clinched promotion back to Ligue 1, ending a two-year absence from the top tier of French soccer. A 1-0 win at home to fellow promotion hopefuls Ajaccio, while second-placed Nimes dropped points, confirmed the club from Champagne country as Ligue 2 champions. Six-time French champions in a glorious post-war era, when they also twice reached the European Cup final — losing to Real Madrid in 1956 and 1959 — Reims spent four consecutive seasons in Ligue 1 before being relegated to Ligue 2 in 2016.
FOOTBALL
Ohio State coach dies at 87
Former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce has died at his home in central Ohio. The College Football Hall of Fame member was 87. His four daughters on Friday released a statement on the loss of “a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and a respected coach to many.” Bruce followed Woody Hayes as coach and compiled an 81-26-1 record. His teams won or shared in four Big Ten titles from 1979 to 1987. He also coached at Tampa, Colorado State, Iowa State and of Northern Iowa. His career record was 154-90-2. Bruce’s Ohio State playing career was cut short by injury and Hayes encouraged him to get into coaching.
SOCCER
Stolen trophy found in Mexico
Authorities in Mexico said the UEFA Europa League trophy has been recovered after it was stolen in the central city of Leon. The Guanajuato state prosecutor’s office said via Twitter that the trophy was reported stolen from a vehicle that was transporting it after an unspecified event in the city. The office posted a photo of the silver cup nestled in a cloth-lined case. It did not immediately provide more details on Friday. The Europa League, Europe’s second-tier club championship, is currently at the semi-final stage, featuring Arsenal-Atletico Madrid and Olympique de Marseille-Red Bull Salzburg matches.
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