FOOTBALL
Judge denies replay request
A US federal judge on Thursday refused to order the NFL to consider replaying the National Football Conference championship game in which the Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints after a critical missed call. Saints season ticket holders who sued over the game could not compel NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to enforce NFL rules letting him order a game’s replaying or rescheduling after an “extraordinarily unfair” act, US District Judge Susie Morgan said. Frank D’Amico, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said in a statement that Morgan did not rule on Goodell’s authority to act, and the NFL’s inaction denied his clients a chance to buy Super Bowl tickets at face value. In refusing to intervene, Morgan concluded that the NFL and Goodell had no “unequivocal duty imposed by law” to investigate. “The writ of mandamus may not be used to enforce a disputed right,” Morgan wrote.
SOCCER
Messi inspires production
With Lionel Messi and some of his Barcelona teammates in attendance, Cirque du Soleil has presented its production inspired by the Argentina great. Guests were given the red-carpet treatment on Thursday, as producers showed details about “Messi10,” the production that Barcelona said is “inspired by the talent, success and living legend that is Leo Messi, who so brilliantly exemplifies the spirit and values of the beautiful game.” The performances are to begin in October in Barcelona. The production is expected to go on an international tour beginning next year.
GOLF
Controversial event beings
Thomas Pieters on Thursday fired a seven-under-par 63 to leave the big names in his wake in the opening round of the inaugural edition of the controversial Saudi International. The world’s top three, Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, are all competing this week despite a wave of criticism over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. Earlier on Thursday, European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley defended the decision to hold the Tour’s first-ever event in Saudi Arabia. “We obviously evaluate first and foremost the safety of our players and our staff,” he told reporters at the Sport Business Summit in Abu Dhabi. “We’re excited that the Saudi International is on our schedule.” England’s Paul Casey opted out, while world No. 1 Rose said: “I’m not a politician, I’m a pro golfer.”
BASKETBALL
Prozingis traded to Mavs
The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to a surprise trade for one of the most talented young players in the NBA, the New York Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis, according to multiple reports. The Knicks are to receive Dallas’ Dennis Smith Jr, DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and a future first-round draft pick in return for Porzingis, who has been out for nearly a year with a knee injury. Porzinigis was voted an NBA All-Star last season and was averaging 22.3 points per game. The Mavericks would also receive the Knicks’ Tim Hardaway Jr and Courtney Lee, ESPN reported. Kevin Durant once called Porzingis a “unicorn” due to his blend of skills. “He can shoot, he can make the right plays, he can defend, he’s a seven-footer that can shoot all the way out to the three-point line,” Durant said in 2016. “That’s rare. And block shots — that’s like a unicorn in this league.”
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